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April 2018

Current Affair

Important Days

18 April World Heritage Day (International Day For Monuments and Sites)

21 April National Civil Services Day

22 April International Earth Day “End Plastic Pollution”

23 April World Book and Copyright Day “Quotes Wishes Slogans Greetings”

24 April National Panchayati Raj (PR) Diwas

25 April World Malaria Day “End Malaria for good”

26 April World Intellectual Property Day (WIP) “Innovation – Improving Lives”

26 April International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day

28 April World Day for Safety and Health at Work “Occupational safety health (OSH)

vulnerability of young workers”

29 April Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare, International Dance Day

24 April 2017 – 30 April 2017

World Immunization Week for 2017

“Protected Together, #VaccinesWork”

MOU Industry/States/Others

S.No. Industry/State/ Organisation

Industry/State/ Organisation

Other Info

1 SJVN Limited Ministry of Power To achieve 9200 Million Units power generation during the 2018-19 under ‘Excellent’ category.

2 Adani Foundation ‘Room to Read’(Non-profit organization)

For Project ‘Utthan’ to develop the habit of reading among children of classes 1 to 5.

3 PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI)

Indian Yoga Association (IYA) To promote yoga, health and spiritual tourism in the Krishna Circuit in Uttar Pradesh.

Top 34 global technology and securities firms, led by Microsoft and Facebook, have signed a Cybersecurity Tech Accord to defend people from malicious attacks by cyber-criminals and nation-states.

India and World Expo 2020 signed participants contract for India’s pavilion in the prestigious World Expo 2020 held once in 5 years.

Date Day Extra Info 2 April World Autism Awareness Day “Empowering women and girls with autism”

4 April International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action

“Mine Action: Advancing Protection, Peace, and Development”

5 April National Maritime Day “Indian Shipping – An Ocean of opportunity”

6 April International Day of Sport for Development and Peace

7 April World Health Day “Universal health coverage: everyone, everywhere”

12 April International Day of Human Space Flight

14 April Ambedkar Jayanti or Bhim Jayanti

17 April World Hemophilia Day “Sharing Knowledge Makes Us Stronger”

Appointments and Resignations Name Post Institution RishadPremji Chairman Nasscom

DebjaniGhosh President Nasscom

HimantaSarma President Badminton Association of India

RakeshBharti Mittal President Industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

Former DoPT Secretary BhanuPratap Sharma

Chairman Banks Board Bureau (BBB)

Lieutenant General PP Malhotra Director General National Cadet Corps (NCC)

Prakash Apte part-time Chairman Kotak Mahindra Bank

Lt Gen Bipin Puri Senior Colonel Commandant Army Medical Corps (AMC)

Rahul Bhatia Interim Chief Executive Officer IndiGo

Mario Abdo Benitez President Paraguay

Mukhammedkaliy Abulgaziyev Prime Minister Kyrgyzstan

Prince Charles President Commonwealth Nations

Viktor Orban Prime Minister Hungary

Carlos Alvarado Quesada President Costa Rica

Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was elected chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia, which is currently underway in China’s Hainan province. Ban replaced Japan’s Yasuo Fukuda.

The UN World Tourism Organization has appointed FC Barcelona’s Argentine star Lionel Messi as an ambassador to promote responsible tourism.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has appointed its first ever woman firefighter. Taniya Sanyal from Kolkata is currently training in the capital and will be joining her team in a month.

Senior advocate Indu Malhotra has become the first woman lawyer to be elevated directly from the Bar as the Supreme Court Judge.

Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo has been sworn in as the 70th US secretary of state after the Senate voted to confirm him, 57-42.

Awards and Recognitions

Award Name Person/Institution Extra Knowledge 2017 Saraswati Samman Sitanshu Yashaschandra

India Talent Management Award Rana Kapoor MD & CEO Yes Bank

2018 Fortune World’s Greatest Leaders

‘The Students’ of Marjory Stoneman Douglas and other schools of US that witnessed gun violence.

BCCI’s CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award

Diana Edulji and Pankaj Roy (posthumously)

Veteran actor Dharmendra and filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani will be conferred with the prestigious Raj Kapoor Lifetime Achievement and Raj Kapoor Special Contribution awards, respectively.

Veteran filmmaker Rakesh Roshan will be felicitated with a Lifetime Achievement honour at the Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Awards for his contribution as a producer, director, screenwriter, editor and actor in Hindi films.

Vitabiotics, UK’s number leading vitamin company, has been honoured with The Queen’s Award for Enterprise in

Innovation for its Perfectil beauty Vitamin range. Kutch-based Bhuj Mercantile Cooperative Bank has bagged the prestigious Banco Award for best performing cooperative

bank. Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, veteran playback singer Asha Bhosle (lifetime achievement) and veteran actor Anupam

Kher (Special Award) were conferred the ‘Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan Awards’.

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been awarded the National Intellectual Property (IP) Award 2018 in the category ‘Top R&D Institution/Organisation for Patents and Commercialisation.

Leading Indian agrochemical company, Parijat Industries (India) Pvt Ltd, has recently been conferred with the top level National Safety Awards, “Sarvashrestha Suraksha Puraskar” gold award for the year 2017.

RECOGNITIONS President Ram Nath Kovind was conferred with the Condecoracion, the highest honour accorded to a non- citizen by the

government of Equatorial Guinea while his visit there. Poet, litterateur, author, lyricist and activist Javed Akhtar has been awarded the ‘Shanti Doot’ award by one of the most

revered temples in India — the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Actress Tamannaah Bhatia, who has worked in both the Hindi film industry and southern cinema, was felicitated with

Sridevi Award at the Zee Apsara Awards. Electronic dance music artiste and music producer Anish Sood became the first Indian artiste to win the Best

Electronica/Dance Single at the 16th Annual Independent Music Awards (IMA) in London.

Mahir Pandhi, an aspiring model from New Delhi, has won “Top Model India”, which showcases diverse talent and breaks stereotypes. The show gave a chance to 12 aspiring models to transform into supermodels.

Google paid tribute to “India’s first superstar” K.L. Saigal with a special Doodle to mark his 114th birth anniversary. Born on April 11, 1904 in Jammu, Kundanlal Saigal was considered the first superstar of the Hindi film industry. He sang 200 film and non-film songs that continue to enthrall generations of music lovers even today.

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, human rights lawyer Indira Jaising and architect Balkrishna Doshi have been named by Fortune magazine as the World’s Greatest Leaders of 2018 at the 24th, 20th and 43rd places respectively.

65th National Film Awards for 2017

The 65th National Film Awards 2017 were announced on April 13, 2018 by the jury panel headed by eminent filmmaker Shri Shekhar Kapur.

List of Awards Best Feature Film: Village Rockstars (Assamese) Best Actress: Sridevi for MOM Best Actor: Ridhhi Sen for Nagar Kirtan Best Director: Jayaraj for Bhayanakam Best Supporting Actress: Divya Dutta for Irada Best Supporting Actor: Fahad Fazil for Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum Best Child Artiste: Bhanita Das for Village Rockstars Best Popular Film:Baahubali: The Conclusion Dada Saheb Phalke Award: Vinod Khanna Best Action Direction:Baahubali 2 Best Choreography:Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (song: Gori Tu Latth Maar) Best Special Effects:Baahubali: The Conclusion Special Jury Award:Nagar Kirtan (Bengali) Best Debut Film Of A Director: Sinjar (Jesari) Best Short Film Fiction:Maiyat Best Film On Family Values: Happy Birthday Best Film for National Integration:Dhappa Best Educational Film: The Girls We Were And The Women We Are Best Anthropological Film: Name Place Animal Thing, Slave Genesis Best Cinematography: Eye Test, Don Best Adventure Film:Ladakh Chale Rickshaw Waale Best Editing:Mrityubhoj Best Music:Sword Of Liberty Best Narration:The Lion Of Ladhakh Best Book On Cinema: Matamgi Manipur Best Critic On Cinema Award: Giridhar Jha, Special Mention to Sunil Mishra Best Lyrics:March 22 (song: Mutthu Ratna) Best Music Director: A R Rahman for Kaatru Veliyidai Best Background Score: A R Rahman for MOM Best Make-Up Artiste: Ram Razak for Nagar Kirtan Best Costume: Govinda Mondal for Nagar Kirtan Best Production Design: Santosh Rajan for Take Off Best Editing:Village Rockstars

Best Sound Designer and Re-Recordist: Samuel George, Justin A Jose for Walking With The Film Best On Location Sound Recordist:Unrserved Best Location Sound: Mallika Das for Village Rockstars Best Original Screenplay:Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum Best Adapted Screenplay:Bhayankam Best Playback Singer (Female): Shasha Tirupati for Vaan Varuvaan) from Kaatru Veliyidai Best Playback Singer (Male): Yesudas for Poyi Maranja Kaalam from Viswasapoorvam Mansoor Special Mention Awards: Pankaj Tripathy for Newton Best Regional Films Awards (Best Hindi Film) :Newton

Dada Saheb Phalke Awards 2018 Winners List

Best Actor(Male): Akshay Kumar for Padman (Jury) and for Toilet: Ek Prem Katha

Best Actor(Female): Bhumi Pednekar for Toilet Ek Prem Katha

Most versatile actress: Manisha Koirala

Lifetime achievement award: Rakesh Roshan

Saraswatibai Dadasaheb Phalke Best actress (Lifetime) award: Farida Jalal

Best actress in a leading role (Padman) – Sonam Kapoor

Best actor in a character role – Rajesh Sharma

Best Playback singer (Female) – Neeti Mohan

Best TV anchor- Aditya Narayan Jha

Best entertainer (TV) – Manish Paul

Best playback singer (Jury)- Bhumi Trivedi

Best Stage Anchor- Siddharth Kannan

Best producer (short films)- Sandip Marwah

Most Entertaining Film (Sonu ki Titu ki Sweety) – Luv Ranjan

Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2018

Excellence Awards are given out by Mumbai-based Dadasaheb Phalke Foundation. Until last year, the awards were known as Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards.

Best actor (male): Shahid Kapoor Best actor people’s choice award: Ranveer Singh Entertainer of the year: Kartik Aryan Best actress (critics): Aditi Rao Hydari Lifetime achievement award: Simi Garewal Pride of Indian cinema: Sanjay Dutt

Path breaking producer of the year: Anushka Sharma and Karnesh Sharma

Best director: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari Outstanding performance male: Rajkummar Rao, Rana Daggubati

Outstanding performance female: Tamannaah Bhatia, Kriti Sanon

Promising face of the year: Aahana Kumra

Best actor (male) Marathi: Vaibhav Tatwawaadi

Best actor (female) Marathi: Pooja Sawant

Best fashion designer of the year: Sanjukta Dutta

Socially conscious performance of the year: Rani Mukherjee

Best comic role: Tusshar Kapoor

Entertaining performance in reality show (Bigg Boss): Hina Khan

Best actress drama award: Jennifer Winget

Best actor (male) Television: Karan Patel

Best reality show judge: Shilpa Shetty

Best talk show host: Karan Johar

Best lyricist: Manoj Muntashir

Best performance in a short film: Divya Khosla Kumar

Iconic contribution towards music: Hans Raj Hans

Comic performer of the year: Sumona Chakraborty

Versatile singer: Rani Hazarika

Social and business entrepreneur of the year: Jaya Misra

Best talk show host award for ‘Koffee with Karan’: Karan Johar

Pulitzer Prize 2018 The Pulitzer Prize are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.

List of Awards Pulitzer Prize For Public Service (Jointly awarded to): The New York Times(for reporting led by Jodi Kantor and Megan

Twohey) and The New Yorker (for reporting by Ronan Farrow) Pulitzer Prize For Breaking News Reporting – Staff of The Press Democrat

Pulitzer Prize For Investigative Reporting – Staff of The Washington Post

Pulitzer Prize For Explanatory Reporting (Jointly awarded to): The staffs of The Arizona Republic and USA Today network Pulitzer Prize For Local Reporting – Staff of The Cincinnati Enquirer

Pulitzer Prize For National Reporting (Jointly awarded to): The staffs of The New York Times and The Washington Post Pulitzer Prize For International Reporting – Clare Baldwin, Andrew R.C. Marshall, and Manuel Mogato of Reuters Pulitzer Prize For Feature Writing – Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, freelancing for GQ

Pulitzer Prize For Commentary – John Archibald, of the Alabama Media Group

Pulitzer Prize For Criticism – Jerry Saltz of New York magazine

Pulitzer Prize For Editorial Writing – Andie Dominick of The Des Moines Register

Pulitzer Prize For Editorial Cartooning – Jake Helpern and Michael Sloan, freelancing for The New York Times

Pulitzer Prize For Breaking News Photography – Ryan Kelly of The Daily Progress

Pulitzer Prize For Feature Photography – photography staff of Reuters

Pulitzer Prize For Fiction – Less, by Andrew Sean Greer

Pulitzer Prize For Drama – Cost of Living, by Martyna Majok

Pulitzer Prize For History – The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea, by Jack E. Davis

Pulitzer Prize For Biography – Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, by Caroline Fraser

Pulitzer Prize For Poetry – Half-light: Collected Poems 1965-2016, by Frank Bidart

Pulitzer Prize For General Nonfiction – Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America, by James Forman Jr.

Pulitzer Prize For Music – DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar

Conference and Summits Summit Place Extra Knowledge 1st Meeting of National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyaan

New Delhi

16th International Energy Forum Ministerial Meeting

New Delhi

Global Logistics Summit New Delhi

Scientific Convention on World Homeopathy Day New Delhi

1st International SME Convention New Delhi

Taiwan Expo New Delhi Organized by Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).

India-Wiesbaden Conference 2018 New Delhi Theme: ‘Securing Global Supply Chains through Government- Industry Partnerships towards Effective Implementation of UNSC Resolution 1540’.

Global IT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities (GITC), 2018

New Delhi 8th-11th November, 2018.

3rd 5G India Congress 2018 New Delhi

India Mobile Congress Aerocity, New Delhi

To be held in October 2018. Theme: “NEW DIGITAL HORIZONS: Connect. Create. Innovate.”

1st International SME Convention 2018 New Delhi Theme: Business Beyond Borders

Secure India Conclave New Delhi

3rd Island Development Agency (IDA) Meeting New Delhi

15th World Rural Health Conference New Delhi Theme: “Healing the Heart of Healthcare: Leaving No One Behind”.

Home Expo India 2018 Greater Noida, UP

Happy Cities Summit 2018 Amaravati, Andhra

Pradesh

First Meeting of the ‘NITI Forum for North East’ Agartala, Tripura

DefExpo India- 2018 Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)

London, United Kingdom

First Regional Conference of Eastern States on Water Resources

Kolkata

Regional Conference on “Urban Development: Technological Solutions and Governance Challenges

Ahmedabad, Gujarat

23rd Western Zonal Council Meeting Gandhinagar, Gujarat

10th Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) Jaipur, Rajasthan

First India-Nordic summit Stockholm, Sweden

International conference on human rights Nepal Theme: ‘Identifying challenges and assessing progress: addressing impunity and human rights in South Asia’

First international conference on ‘Water, Environment and Climate Change: Knowledge Sharing and Partnership’

Kathmandu, Nepal

India-Nepal Inter Governmental Committee (IGC) Meeting

Kathmandu, Nepal Indian side led by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia.

6th Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) and Conclave of Chiefs

Tehran, Iran Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba attended the conclave to deepen engagement between navies of the two countries.

15th SCO Defence Ministers Meeting Beijing, China.

The 1st regional workshop on star rating of garbage- free cities, organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in collaboration with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) was inaugurated in New Delhi.

Morocco will host the 2021 annual meetings of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

International News India will be the partner country for International Frankfurt Trade Fair, Ambiente 2019 to be held during February 8-12,

2019 in Germany. India will take over the partner country globe from the Netherlands. The Russian military has successfully tested its latest intercontinental ballistic missile “Sarmat”. Sarmat is intended to

replace the Soviet-designed Voyevoda, the world’s heaviest ICBM known as “Satan” in the West. Bangladesh Prime Minister Minister Sheikh Hasina announced she will be abolishing the quota system for government

jobs. The decision is being viewed as a victory for tens of thousands of students and job-seekers who came out in protest against the reservation policy for special groups.

O’Connell Tower of Ireland has reopened to the public here after 47 years following a bomb attack. It is the tallest tower of Ireland.

China has aimed at making the free trade port system and operational mode of Hainan “more mature” by 2035.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has inaugurated the first unit of 969- MW Neelum Jehlum Hydropower Project built with the financial and technical support of China in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Nepal observed the famous Bisket Jatra in Bhaktapur and other parts of Kathmandu valley. The nine day annual festival marks beginning of Nepali New Year.

According to the annual State of Global Air Report, published the Health Effects Institute(HEI), more than 95% of the world’s population is breathing unhealthy air. India has largest numbers of people (560 million) exposed to household air pollution in 2016 followed by 416 million in China.

Three-time Oscar winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg has created history by becoming the first director whose films have globally taken in over $10 billion.

NASA has launched its newest planet-hunting spacecraft, Transit Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) from Cape Canaveral in Florida to find thousands of new worlds beyond our Solar System.

‘Stranger Things’ star Millie Bobby Brown, 14, has become the youngest person to be named as one of the world’s 100 most influential people by TIME.

Singapore Airlines is set to launch the world’s first non-stop flight, Airbus A350-900ULR (Ultra Long-Range), with almost 20 hours in the air, by the end of this year connecting Singapore to New York.

Argentina’s central bank (Central Bank of Argentina) has raised interest rates by 300 bps from 27.25 per cent to 30.25 per cent to fight inflationary pressures.

National News Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli arrived in India on a three-day State visit. During his visit, he was presented an

Honorary degree at GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in the capital city of Uttarakhand Dehradun. PM Modi announced that on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti a “Gram Swaraj Abhiyan” would be organised starting from

14th April to 5th May, 2018. This Abhiyan is being undertaken for reaching out to poor households, spreading awareness about government welfare schemes and other people centric initiatives.

The Central government has banned the import of Oxytocin and asked the customs department to prevent any attempt to smuggle it into the country.

The government has amended Income Tax rules that will now allow transgenders to be recognised as an independent category of applicants for obtaining a Permanent Account Number (PAN) for their tax-related transactions.

The Centre released Rs 23,443 crore to the states under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) as part of the its early spending push. Funds released would be used to undertake priority work under water conservation measures.

Union Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu launched digital initiatives by Export Inspection Council (EIC) for ease of export at New Delhi.EIC is the official export certification body of Government of India and has launched this flagship project of Digital India Initiative to keep pace with changing dynamics of the world.

The Union Minister for Railways and Coal Shri Piyush Goyal launched UTTAM App for Coal Quality Monitoring. UTTAM stands for – Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal (uttam.coalindia.in). The Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL) developed UTTAM,aims to provide an App for all citizens and coal consumers to monitor the process of Third Party Sampling of coal across CIL subsidiaries.

The Union Home Minister ShriRajnath Singh launched the web-based application ‘e-FRRO’ (e-Foreigners Regional Registration Office).

Ministry of Tourism in close collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) launched “Adopt a Heritage Project” to provide world class tourist facilities at the various natural/cultural heritage sites, monuments and other tourist sites to make them tourist friendly, enhance their tourist potential and cultural importance in a planned and phased manner across the country.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched ‘Project Dhoop’, an initiative aimed at shifting the school assembly time to noon to ensure maximum absorption of Vitamin D in students through natural sunlight.

All tobacco products and cigarette packs will have a national toll-free number printed on them from September 2018 to assist users to quit addiction. The number is – 1XXX-XX-2356.

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has launched the much-awaited ‘Virtual ID’ which will be a random 16-digit number mapped to a person’s Aadhaar number.

The UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) has recently replaced existing QR code on eAadhaar having resident’s demographic details now with a secured digitally-signed QR Code which contains demographics along with photograph of the Aadhaar holder.

Gobardhan Yojna, a central government scheme for managing and converting cattle dung and solid waste into manure and biogas, launched nationally from Haryana’s Karnal District on April 30.

Gobar is an acronym for Galvanising Organic Bio Agro Resources. Through the scheme, the government aims to ensure cleanliness in villages and generate energy by converting cattle dung and solid agricultural waste into compost and biogas.

The scheme was announced by Finance Minister ArunJaitley in his budget speech this year. The government aims to cover nearly 700 districts under the scheme in this financial year.

To provide seamless vehicular movement for enhancing trade, business, health, education and tourism between Indian, Myanmar and Thailand, the National Highways Authority of India has signed an agreement for upgradation of Yagyi –

Kalewa section of highway (Milepost 40/0 to Milepost 115/5) in Myanmar to two lane with earthen shoulder. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has signed an agreement with the Ministry of External Affairs, for preparation of a

Detailed Project Report (DPR) on the first phase for development of the Kalay Airport as a green airport in Myanmar. One-stop bill payment platform Bharat BillPay registered a 75 per cent year-on- year growth in the number of transactions

at 31.5 million in March this year. The platform had recorded 18 million transactions in the same month last year. E-way bill requirement for intra-state movement of goods has been rolled out in 5 states i.e. Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra

Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala. The electronic e-way bill for inter-state movement of goods valued over Rs 50,000 was rolled out on April 1.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in March, took oath for his new term on April 15, 2018. He has been elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.

The Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Suresh Prabhu launched the FIEO GlobalLinker– a digital platform for MSME exporters to digitise their businesses and join a global community of growing businesses. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

The Bombay High Court has barred Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) from using water from Pavana dam for maintaining Pune ground for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 matches till further orders.

Karan Johar has become the first-ever Bollywood filmmaker to get a place at the famous Madame Tussauds. The process has begun in London and it will take about six months for the wax figurine to be ready.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the two-day Civil Services Day event in New Delhi on April 20. The Government has inaugurated the new office of Central Project Monitoring Unit for the e-Vidhan project of the

Government at the Parliament House Annexe. 4 Indians feature on Time’s ‘100 Most Influential People’ of 2018- Virat Kohli, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Bollywood star

Deepika Padukone and Ola co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal. The Centre Government has approved the ordinance to award death sentence to the rapists of children below the age of

12. The government has cleared the amendment in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar released three books based on Mahatma Gandhi’s Champaran movement of 1917

namely - Mister M K Gandhi Ki Champaran Diary, Champaran Andolan 1917 and Pir Muhammad Munis: Kalam Ka Satyagrahi.

Diu Smart City has become the first city in India that runs on 100% renewable energy during daytime setting a new benchmark for other cities to become clean and green. Diu had been importing 73% of its power from Gujarat until last year.

Suresh Prabhu, chairs the first meeting of the think tank on the Framework for National Policy on E- commerce. Central government has launched m-Awas Mobile App for allotment of General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) in

Delhi. This allotment of government accommodation will be carried out through Automated System of Allotment (ASA). This app is developed by National Informatics Center (NIC).

The HRD ministry launched 2nd Unnat Bharat Abhiyan. IIT Delhi has been designated to function as the national coordinating institute for this programme. Under the programe students from 750 higher educational institutions from across the country will adopt villages and visit them to get acquainted with lifestyle of people there and the problems faced by them.

Government of India has awarded Letter of Intent (LoI) to 9 agencies for 22 monuments under “Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan” scheme to protect, preserve and market the heritage of India.

The power ministry data shows that all 5,97,464 inhabited villages in the country have been electrified under Modi government.

On April 29, 2018, Sikkim Chief Minister and Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) founder Pawan Kumar Chamling surpassed record for former West Chief Minister Jyoti Basu to become the longest serving CM of any Indian state. Chamling has been CM since December 12, 1994 and completed his 24th year.

The National Disaster Response Authority (NDMA) conducted its first-ever Mock Exercise on Bio- Disasters at the Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport in Patna. The aim of the 5 days training programme was enhancing the preparedness of Airport Emergency Handlers (AEHs) to respond to CBRN emergencies at the airports.

The Dalmia Bharat Group has adopted the Red Fort for five years under the government’s “Adopt a Heritage” scheme. PM Narendra Modi launched the Van Dhan Scheme of Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED during the celebrations of

Ambedkar Jayanti at Bijapur, Chattisgarh on 14th April, 2018 for socio-enconomic development of the tribals living in forests. Under Van Dhan, 10 Self Help Groups of 30 Tribal gatherers would be constituted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a summer internship linked to the ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign from May 1, 2018 to July 31, 2018. The internship is an initiative of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS), Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS).

Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the National Media Faculty Development Centre at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in New Delhi.

Swedish-Swiss multinational giant ABB has commissioned India’s first industrial solar microgrid at its Vadodara manufacturing facility in Gujarat. The Vadodara factory is ABB’s largest facility in India.

State News

Andhra Pradesh The Andhra Pradesh government will soon constitute a Happiness Commission that will take up a series of programmes to

promote “happiness” in the state. AP became the second state in the country to introduce an exclusive ministry for happiness in April 2017. Madhya Pradesh is the first.

East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh is all set to become the country’s first ‘LED street light district’. Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures (TLMAL) has inaugurated Indias first metal-to- metal bonding facility at Adibatla,

Hyderabad. In a first of its kind in India initiative, IT major Tech Mahindra has established Andhra Pradesh Cyber Security Operations

Centre (APCSOC) in Vijayawada which is equipped with predictive threat analytics capabilities.

Assam The two-day Assam Spring Festival began at the Manas National Park where visitors will get to experience the state’s local

food, music, handloom and handicrafts. M Venkaiah Naidu launched a health scheme of the Assam government named Atal Amrit Abhiyan that offers free medical

care of up to Rs 2 lakh for every individual from Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Above Poverty Line (APL) families. Rs 400 crore has been earmarked for the scheme in the financial year 2018-19

Bihar Prime Minister NarendraModi launched India’s first all-electric high-speed locomotive in Bihar.The electric locomotive,

with a 12,000 horsepower (HP) was flagged off from Bihar’s Madhepura loco factory.

Chhattisgarh The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has approved establishment of the first multipurpose “Van DhanVikas Kendra” on the pilot

basis for establishment in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh. Chhattisgarh bagged the ‘State of the Year’ Award under the ‘business leader’ category as part of the India Business

Leadership for the remarkable increase in business and services activities in various sectors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first health centre under Ayushman Bharat Scheme in Chhattisgarh’s

Bijapur on April 14.

With an aim to combat the rising levels of air pollution in Delhi-NCR region, petrol pumps in the capital from 1st April 2018 started supplying ultra-clean Bharat Stage VI grade fuel (both petrol and diesel).

This move makes New Delhi the first city in the country to switch from BS-IV grade fuels to BS-VI (equivalent to fuel meeting Euro-VI emission norms).

The Delhi government launched the “Mission Buniyaad” scheme to improve learning levels of children from classes 3 to 9.

Gujarat

Gujarat govt. approved setting up a 5,000 MW capacity solar park at the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR), which would be the largest such entity in the world after its completion.

Gujarat government has come up with a project named ‘Pocket Cop’ under which smartphones containing database of people with a criminal background would be distributed to 4900 police personnel in the state to improve crime detection rate.

Haryana

Haryana state government has decided to provide special benefits, including nutritional support, to tuberculosis patients in an effort to eliminate the infectious disease by 2025.

Haryana government has come up with Water ATM Policy to provide clean drinking water to people at public places in cities. Residents of cities in Haryana can now look forward to having a water ATM every 400 metres.

The Haryana government has made international shooter Gauri Sheoran as brand ambassador for its Measles and Rubella (MR) vaccination campaign.

Himachal Pradesh

With an aim to promote breastfeeding, Himachal Pradesh Government launched Mother’s Absolute Affection (MAA)

programme in the state. The aim of the programme was to make people aware about the importance of breastfeeding. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur announced that the Suketi Fossil Park in Sirmaur district will be

developed through Asian Development Bank (ADB) assistance.

Jammu Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district has been shortlisted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s excellence award for

promoting digital payments and cashless economy.

Kerala

In an effort to boost agricultural production and attract more people to farming, Kerala state government is planning to launch a community radio at Kuttanad, also known as the `rice bowl’ of Kerala, to keep them abreast of the latest developments in the sector. The Kuttanad Farm Radio will reportedly be the first community radio in the country.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched Pravasi pension scheme. The scheme gives those hailing from Kerala but living outside the state or country, a pension of Rs. 2,000 a month. People over the age of 60 years are eligible for the pension. To avail the scheme, one needs to pay Rs. 100 every month for five years.

Madhya Pradesh Six years after it applied for the Geographical Indications (GI) tag for Kadaknath, a chicken breed whose black meat is in

demand in some quarters, Madhya Pradesh has got the coveted label. Madhya Pradesh has bagged the Most Film Friendly State Award by the central government for its efforts to ease filming in

the state by creating a well-structured website, film friendly infrastructure and more. Prime Minister NarendraModi launched the Rashtriya Gram SwarajAbhiyan in Mandla in Madhya Pradesh. He unveiled a

Road Map for overall development of tribals in the state during the next five years.

Maharashtra

India received its first LNG cargo from the US under a long-term supply deal when a ship carrying super- cooled natural gas arrived at Dabhol in Maharashtra.

Mumbai, also known as the financial capital of India, has added another feather to its cap, becoming the first city of the country to have as many as eight women police station in-charges.

The Centre, Maharashtra Government and World Bank signed a 420 million dollar project to help small and marginals farmers in the Marathwada and Vidarbha region of the State.

Maharashtra state government has introduced free chemotherapy facility in 10 districts from June. The state government will include more districts once the scheme is rolled out in these districts successfully.

Maharashtra government has made Aadhaar cards mandatory to avail any state-run free nutrition scheme in a bid to bring in transparency and enable beneficiaries to get their entitlements directly in a convenient and seamless manner.

The Maharashtra government led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has set up an institution named ‘QUEST’ in Mumbai to evaluate and quantify special development budget allocations and their impact on tribal development.

An exhibition titled “Dhvani se Śabd aur Chinh” was inaugurated at National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai on April 21, 2018 speaking about artists who practiced in Southern states as well as artists who were born there or had family trees and moved up North to become the greatest practitioners and pedagogues.

The Maharashtra government signed an MoU with the British Council to strengthen educational and cultural cooperation.

Manipur

Manipur celebrated much-awaited five-day Shirui Lily State Festival in the Ukhrul district headquarters. The festival aims to spread awareness and conserve the endangered state flower ‘Shirui Lily’, while also promote the hill district as a potential tourist destination.

Odisha

People across Odisha celebrated Utkal Divas on 1st April 2018 to commemorate the formation of the state in 1936. Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship ShriDharmendraPradhan, inaugurated

the world-class Interpretation Centre and tourist facilities at Konark Sun Temple at Konark.

Tamil Nadu In a bid to use technology for farmers’ benefit, the Tamil Nadu Government has come out with a bi-lingual mobile

application ‘Uzhavan’ (farmer) that will allow ryots to have access to nine types of services, including details about their crop insurance.

Telangana

Telangana government has announced 2 percent reservation in state government jobs for sportspersons.

Uttar Pradesh The much awaited India’s longest elevated road was finally inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The 10.3 km long Hindon Elevated Road’s primary objectivity was to ease traffic movement from Ghaziabad to New Delhi and vice versa.

The Uttar Pradesh Government launched the Ganga Hariteema Yojana, also known as Ganga Greenery scheme, on in the 27 districts of Uttar Pradesh that are located on the bank of river Ganga.

Uttar Pradesh Government has ordered all government hospitals and orphanages to establish SHISHU SWAGAT KENDRA- PALNA and put up cradles in front of their buildings so that parents can give up unwanted babies safely.

Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat launched a campaign called “Devbhoomi dialogue” at his official residence calling upon them to look for self-employment opportunities in their chosen fields.

West Bengal

The West Bengal government has rolled out Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s dream project ‘Rupashree’ which provides one time financial support to the marriages of poor women.

West Bengal government has given its approval to State Forest Department to apply for coveted Ramsar Site recognition under Ramsar Convention to Sunderban Reserve Forest.

Finance and Banking News Reserve Bank of India has decided to set up Data Sciences Lab to improve its forecasting, surveillance and early warning

detection abilities which will aid policy formulation. The Reserve Bank of India switched back to the gross domestic product (GDP)-based measure to offer its growth estimates

from the gross value added (GVA) methodology, citing global best practices. The State Bank of India (SBI) will be investing a total of Rs 80 billion in the Arun III hydropower project of Nepal, which

has 900 megawatts (MW) electricity production capacities. The National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has come out with a ‘Prompt Corrective Action (PCA)

Framework’ framework for regional rural banks (RRBs), much like the revised one the RBI unveiled for scheduled commercial banks nearly a year ago.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has slapped Rs 9 crore penalty on Bank of Baroda for “failing” to adhere to anti-money laundering norms, and not having an effective system to report suspicious transactions linked to the Rs 6,000 crore scam in its Delhi-based branch.

RBI imposed monetary penalty worth Rs. 3 crore on IDBI Bank for not complying with the outlined norms related to reporting of bad loans.

ICICI Bank has launched a cross-border remittance facility “Social Pay” that can be used by NRIs for sending money to their friends and family in India through social media like WhatsApp and e-mail.

IndusInd Bank has become the first lender to start using WhatsApp enterprise solution to provide basic banking services to customers. Using the widely-used messaging service, customers can check their balance, obtain a mini statement, check reward points as well as update Aadhaar.

Jio Payments Bank Limited has commenced operations as a payments bank with effect from April 3, 2018.Telecom major BhartiAirtel was the first to begin payment bank services in November 2016.

RBI dropped Axis Bank, which has been one of the largest importers of bullion, from the list of lenders allowed to ship in gold and silver for the current fiscal year.

SIDBI launched ‘Samridhhi- the virtual assistant’ on banks revamped universal loan portal www.udyamimitra.in. A ‘Bankability Kit’ (brought in partnership with Bank of Baroda and IDBI Bank) was also launched.

Leading public sector bank, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) as part of their ‘Customer First’ initiative launched Internet of Things (IoT)-based customer feedback application on a pilot basis at its Cathedral branch in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Three trade receivable discounting systems (TReDS)—digital invoice discounting platforms—approved so far by the RBI have jointly implemented a blockchain solution, which is expected to help reduce frauds in bills discounting or receivable financing.

The platforms—RXIL, A.TReDS and M1xchange—had been set up to bring together buyers, sellers and financiers for discounting the MSME invoices and provide them with timely funding.

This is billed as India’s first live blockchain implementation in the enterprise financial segment.US-based MonetaGo has designed and implemented the production solution.

National E-Repository Limited (NERL), a group company of National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX ), has brought in ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank on board as the repository participants for pledge finance.

As part of the drive to double income of farmers by 2022, the government has raised the authorised capital of NABARD by six times to Rs 300 billion (from Rs 50 billion) to help it increase its lending to the rural economy.

Central Vigilance Commission has asked banks to give details of any fraud worth over Rs. 3 crore to devise a preventive

mechanism. This data is originally lying with respective banks and the Reserve Bank of India. Kotak Mahindra Bank has surpassed SBI to become India’s second-most-valued lender after HDFC Bank in terms of market

capitalisation. The Centre has announced the release of Rs. 120.92 crores as co-contribution towards its Atal Pension Yojana scheme. According to the TRA Brand Trust Report 2018, State Bank of India was the most-trusted bank (both public and private

sector) in the country and ICICI topped the chart among the private ones. ssVikram Raichura, CEO of VivaConnect along with Radhika Raichura, announced their new venture ‘INFIN8’. INFIN8

offers a quick and easy process of connecting potential borrowers with multiple lenders through both online (APP and Web) and offline, through India’s most premium number 8080808080.

The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal for the promulgation of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance 2018 that seeks to confiscate properties and assets of economic offenders, like Nirav Modi, who flee the country to avoid facing criminal prosecution.

Private sector lender ICICI Bank has introduced first of its kind ‘digital form’ which will help open current accounts in a few hours.

Private sector lender Yes Bank has received Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval to open two representative offices in London and Singapore. Its first representative office was opened in Abu Dhabi in April 2015

Total deposits in Jan Dhan accounts crossed Rs 80,000 crore mark with more people joining the flagship financial inclusion programme. The deposits, which have been steadily rising since March 2017, were at Rs 80,545.70 crore on April 11, 2018.

National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has announced the launch of its “e – Gsec” platform for facilitating the non-competitive bidding in Government of India Dated Securities (G-Sec) and Treasury Bills (T-Bills).

HDFC Bank has launched Interactive Robotic Assistant (IRA) 2.0, an interactive humanoid at its Koramangala Branch in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Reserve Bank of India has announced that it is withdrawing the restriction that limited foreign investors to only investing in government and corporate bonds with tenures of three years or more.

India collected Rs 7.41 trillion in taxes in the first year of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the period ending March 31, 2018.

MOUs A Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) tailor-made to suit the requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners and families,

was signed between the Indian Army and HDFC Bank on the defence salary package. SoftBank has signed a $930-million deal with China’s energy conglomerate Golden Concord (GCL) to produce and sell solar

equipment in India. The project will have a 4 gigawatt-capacity and will produce solar ingots, silicon wafers, batteries, and components.

A Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) was signed between the Indian Army and Axis Bank on the Defence Salary Package on 13 Apr 2018.Under the current MoU, the Army personnel will get free personal accident death cover and free permanent total disability cover of Rs 30 lakh and free educational cover of up to Rs 2 Lakh for children between the age of 12 and 20 years. Recently, Indian Army has also signed a MoU with HDFC bank.

The Indian Army renewed its MOU with Axis Bank, to offer ‘Power Salute’, a salary account, exclusively designed for the Army personnel.

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has entered into an agreement for information utility services with the National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) to enable high-quality, authenticated information about debts and defaults; which will have more transparency in maintaining the list of borrowers, debtors, creditors and loan defaulters.

First bi-monthly policy review of fiscal This is the fourth policy review in succession that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) six-member Monetary Policy

Committee (MPC) has kept the repo, or short-term interest rate for commercial banks, unchanged. The RBI also revised downwards inflation in Q4 of FY18 from 5.1 per cent to 4.5 per cent. RBI estimated that the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for FY20 will range from 7.4 to 7.9 percent.

Current Monetary Policy Rates: Repo Rate: Unchanged at 6% Revrese Repo Rate: Unchanged at 5.75% Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate: Unchanged at 6.25% Bank Rate: Unchanged at 6.25% Cash Reserve Ratio: Unchanged at 4% Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR): Unchanged at 19.5%

Business News Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has received RBI’s approval to buy the securities services arm of IL&FS. After conducting a seven-month-long pilot in India, Amazon Business announced the expansion of its Global Selling

programme by launching B2B selling for Indian exporters. UC Browser has launched India’s first women-only news channel where they aim to show women related content, based on

relationships, education, health, fashion and lifestyle. M-commerce play, Myntra has acquired Witworks, a Bengaluru based technology startup, focused on producing smart

wearable devices and their underlying software. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country’s largest IT outsourcing company has emerged as the first Indian listed

company to cross the $100-billion mark in terms of market capitalisation (m-cap). US wireless carriers T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. have inked about a $26 billion deal to form a combined entity under

the name T-Mobile. The agreement would leave just three major wireless carriers in the US namely- T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T.

Economy News The Asian Development Bank (ADB) noted that the Indian economy is set to expand by:

7.3% in 2018-19

7.6% in 2019-20

The World Bank has predicted a growth rate of

7.3 percent in 2018

7.5 percent in 2019 and 2020.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects India’s economy to grow at

7.4 per cent in 2018 from 6.7 per cent in 2017

7.8 percent in 2019.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said it expects India’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at 7.3-7.7 per cent during the 2018-19 financial year.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel has said the country’s economy growth is expected to accelerate at 7.4 percent in the current fiscal year to March 2019 after a “resilient performance” in the second half of the previous year.

India has been recording the highest growth rate amongst the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) economies, as per report of KPMG titled “India Soars Higher”. As per the report, Indian economy is likely to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2018.

Global credit rating agency Fitch has projected India’s growth at 7.3 per cent in current the fiscal and further to 7.5 per cent in 2019-20. It has affirmed India’s sovereign rating at ‘BBB-‘ with ‘stable’ outlook, saying that the country’s medium-term growth potential is strong. ‘BBB-‘ rating indicates lowest investment grade.

India is now the world’s sixth largest economy, displacing France according to International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook (WEO) report. The five economies ahead are the United States, China, Japan, Germany and United Kingdom.

The Indian economy likely to witness a GDP growth of 7.5 per cent this financial year (2018-19), says a Deutsche Bank research report.

Apps Launches/ Portal/Helpline APP/Portal Company/Organisation Features/Use Kamao (earn) AU Small Finance Bank Encourage stakeholders to refer prospective

customers, who want to open deposit accounts or get loans, on the app and win rewards.

DARPAN (Digital Advancement Of Rural Post Office For A New India)

Department of Posts

‘Study in India’ Portal HRD Ministry Promote Indian education to 200,000 international students by 2023

Projects Council of Ministers has given nod to form a Company for Managing Rs 770 crore World Bank funded Cold Dam Water

lifting Schemes. The firm is being called Shimla Jal Prabhandhan Nigam Limited (SJPNL). India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 which is expected to be launched around October-November 2018, is likely to

cost Rs 800 crore. It includes Rs 200 crore for launching and Rs 600 crore for the satellite.

Defence News The fifth Indo-Kyrgyzstan joint training exercise KHANJAR V culminated after a Joint Tactical Validation Exercise and a

closing ceremony held at Counter Insurgency Jungle Warfare School, Vairengte, Mizoram. Indo-Korean joint anti-piracy, search and rescue exercise ‘SAHYOG- HYEOBLYEOG 2018‘ was conducted off the Chennai

coast. The Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted its biggest ever combat exercise (Gagan Shakti, 2018) along Pakistan and China

borders. The Indian and Malaysian armies begins two week long joint military exercise ‘Harimau Shakti’ from April 30 in dense

forests of Sengai Perdik in Hulu Langat distric of Malaysia as part of efforts to bolster defence cooperation. Two days Coastal Security Exercise ‘Sagar Kavach’ held in Kerala to strengthen and assess the loopholes in the coastal

security mechanism along Kerala shores. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by the Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, accorded approval to Capital Acquisition

Proposals of the Services valued at over Rs 3,687 crore.

Science & Technology Nasa’s Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the farthest individual star ever seen – an enormous blue stellar body

nicknamed Icarus located over halfway across the universe. The star, harboured in a very distant spiral galaxy, is so far away that its light has taken nine billion years to reach Earth. NASA is all set for its first interplanetary launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on May 5 with the Mars-

bound InSight lander. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1I or

IRNSS-1I from SatishDhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota Island.The IRNSS-1I will replace the IRNSS-1A which was rendered ineffective as the onboard atomic clocks had failed.

Sports News Tournament Winner Runner Up

South East Asian Women Handball Championship (held at K.D. Singh Babu Stadium in Lucknow, UP)

India Beat Bangladesh

Santosh Trophy football tournament (held at the Vivekananda YuvabharatiKrirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) in Kolkata, West Bengal)

Kerala Beat Bengal

11th Barcelona Open 2018 Rafael Nadal Stefanos Tsitsipas

Monte Carlo Masters 2018 Rafael Nadal (Spain) Kei Nishikori (Japan)

Bahrain Grand Prix 2018 German Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel

2018 Monterrey Open Spanish GarbiñeMuguruza

Miami Open (Men’s Singles trophy) American John Isner

Miami Open title (Women’s Singles trophy) American Sloane Stephens

Asian Armwrestling Championship Firuz (Tajikistan) Munkhbold (Mongolia); Differently-abled Indian arm wrestler Shrimant Jha clinched the bronze medal

16th Federation Cup Junior National athletics Championship

Stuttgart Open 2018 Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic)

Coco Vandeweghe

Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2018 Lewis Hamilton

Badminton Asian Championships 2018 (men’s) Kento Momota (Japan)

Badminton Asian Championships 2018 (women’s)

Tai Tzu Ying (China)

Sports Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj was adjudged ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ while ace shuttlersKidambi

Srikanth and P V Sindhu bagged the best senior male and female athletes at the Telangana Sports Journalists Association annual awards for 2017.

Pullela Gopichand was given ‘best coach of the year’ award while triple Olympian and former national Hockey player N Mukesh Kumar was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award at the event.

Both Indian captains of men and women’s cricket team, ViratKohli and Mithali Raj were named among Wisden’s leading cricketers of the year.

Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth became World number 1 in men’s singles category after Badminton World Federation updated its weekly rankings. He overtook World Champion Danish Viktor Axelsen at the top of rankings with 76,895 points.

Ankita Raina became only the third Indian woman tennis player to breach the top-200 rankings in singles.

Son of Dreams was unveiled to be the Official Mascot of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019.

Indian tennis’ ageless wonder Leander Paes became the most successful doubles player in the history of Davis Cup as he combined with Rohan Bopanna to not only grab a record 43rd win but also bring the country back in the tie against China.

The 2018 Asia Cup, that was earlier scheduled to be held in India, has now been moved out to the United Arab Emirates. India clinched the title of team champion in the 8th South Asian Judo Championship held in Kathmandu, Nepal. India ended

their campaign in the tournament with a total of 12 Gold medals and three Bronze medals. All 104 International Cricket Council (ICC) member countries will be granted T20I status. Currently, only the 18 member

countries are eligible to play T20Is. All Women’s team matches will be awarded T20 International status on July 1, 2018. All the men’s team matches will be given T20 International status on January 1, 2019.

India ended the 56th Belgrade International Boxing Tournament held in Serbia with three gold, five silver and five bronze medals in all. The three gold medalists include Sumit Sangwan (91kg), Nikhat Zareen (51kg) and Himanshu Sharma (49kg).

21st Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games was held at the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia from 4 to 15 April 2018. Carrara

Stadium was chosen as the venue to host the opening ceremony. The 2022 Commonwealth Games is scheduled to be held in Birmingham, England.

PV Sindhu was India’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the of the 21st edition game while Mary Kom carried India’s flag at closing ceremony in Gold Coast.

Australia topped the medal table winning the most golds (80) and most medals overall (198). England and India finished second and third respectively. With 26 Gold medals and a total of 66 medals, India finished 3rd for the tournament

Schemes and Policy Scheme Name Information Outlay

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2018 Series-I

Interest Rate: 2.5% Tenor: 8 years with exit option in 5th, 6th and 7th year Minimum Size: 1 gram of gold. Maximum Size: 4 KG for individual, 4 Kg for HUF and 20 Kg for trusts and similar entities per fiscal (April-March)

Restructured Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) scheme

To be Implemented from April 2018-Marc h 2022 Aim: Making rural local bodies self-sustainable, financially stable and more efficient.

Total cost- Rs. 7255.50 crore Central Share -Rs. 4500 crore State Share -Rs. 2755.50 crore.

National Bamboo Mission (NBM) Rs 1,290 crore (with Rs 950 crore as central share)

Gobardhan (Galvanizing Organic Bio Agro Resources Dhan) Scheme

Launched at national level from Karnal, Haryana

Government based BHIM app has introduced a new cashback scheme for customers as well as merchants. The app now offers a cashback of Rs 51 for new customers on successful completion of their first transaction, however, the merchants will be able to get a total of Rs 1,000 for opting BHIM app.

Committee Head of Committee

Purpose

Vinay Sheel Oberoi

The committee headed by former HRD Secretary VinaySheelOberoi will examine the conduct of Class 10 and Class 12 examinations by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in order to prevent leak of question papers and revisit all aspects related to security checks built into the system to ensure question papers reach examinees without tampering.

Goutam Ghosh The West Bengal government set up a 18-member committee chaired by eminent film director GoutamGhosh with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the patron to commemorate 100 years of Bengali cinema.

Bhupendrasinh Chudasama Human Resource Development Ministry constituted the committee under the Chairmanship of Gujarat Education Minister ShriBhupendrasinhChudasama to suggest the ways to make the maths subject easy.

Jayant Sinha

The Government constituted a Task Force under the chairmanship of Shri JayantSinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation for fast-tracking the roll-out of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology. The Task Force will develop a roadmap with implementable recommendations for Central as well as State Governments, Industry and Research Institutions. The Headquarters of the Task Force will be at Ministry of Civil Aviation, New Delhi.

Rankings

Index India’s Rank Other Information Commonwealth Innovation Index 10th Top three countries includes UK, Singapore and Canada respectively

World Press Freedom Index 138 Top- Norway Last- North Korea

India has now become the largest importer of almonds in the world. India ranked 37th in the global startup ecosystem in 2017, according to a report released by global startup ecosystem map

Startupblink. United States topped the list. India is now the second-largest mobile phone producer in the world after China. According to the data shared by Indian

Cellular Association with the government, annual production of mobile phones in India increased from 3 million units in 2014 to 11 million units in 2017.

India emerged as the third most vulnerable country in terms of risk of cyber threats, such as malware, spam and ransomware, in 2017, moving up one place over previous year, according to a report by security solutions provider Symantec. The U.S. remains most vulnerable to such attacks.

India has jumped 13 places in the last one year to be earn 130th spot in the latest annual Index of Economic Freedom released by a top American think-tank.

The Global Findex Report by World Bank states about 190 million Indian adults still don’t have a bank account, second only to China, despite the account ownership more than doubling from 35 per cent in 2011 to 80 per cent in 2017.

India topped as the highest recipient of remittances globally in 2017, with its diaspora sending back $69 billion, according to the World Bank statement.

India has been projected to be the second fastest growing country in the world for passenger traffic by the Airports Council International (ACI) in its traffic forecasts between 2017-40. Vietnam tops with a 8.5 per cent growth rate, followed by India at 7.5 per cent and Iran at 7.3 per cent.

Rankings (Persons,Cities,Organisations and Others)

Hyderabad has been ranked the top city in the short-term Momentum Ranking of JLL’s annual global survey. The ‘CMI Short-Term Momentum rankings’ published by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) features Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata among the top five cities with Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai also earning a spot among the top 20 in the Global Top 30 index.

In the survey conducted across 53 airports in the country by AAI, Mangalore International Airport was adjudged the cleanest. A team of officials from AAI had inspected the airport terminal, parking area, toilets, commercial stalls, the road leading to the airport and customer lounge.

According to a report from OpenSignal, a wireless coverage mapping company, Patna has topped in 4G connectivity among 20 of India’s largest cities. It has emerged ahead of the likes of Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi.

Online search engine Google is the most trusted Internet brand in India, followed by Facebook as per TRA Brand Trust Report 2018.

Technology giant Microsoft India has been declared the most attractive employer brand, followed by e- commerce giant Amazon India according to HR service provider Randstad’s Employer Brand Research (REBR) 2018.

Loans from Banks From To Amount Purpose Asian Development Bank (ADB)

India USD 80 million (Rs 512 crore)

To help improving skills of youth and modernising institutes in Himachal Pradesh

World Bank (IBRD credit)

India USD 125 (equivalent)

Innovate in India for Inclusiveness Project

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

Madhya Pradesh

USD 140 million It is the loan amount through which approximately 1.5 million rural residents in Madhya Pradesh will directly benefit from improved livelihoods, education and mobility. The project will be co-financed with the World Bank.

World Bank Madhya Pradesh

$ 210 million To improve the rural roads in Madhya Pradesh under Madhya Pradesh Rural Connectivity Project. The project will cover 10,510 km stretch of rural roads in Madhya Pradesh that fall under the Chief Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (CMGSY) program.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Uttarakhand Rs 1,700 crore For infrastructure development and creation of sewerage treatment facilities in urban areas.

World Bank Meghalaya USD 48 million For Meghalaya Community – Led Landscapes Management Project (MCLLMP)

The National Biopharma Mission of Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) has been approved at a total cost of US$250 million for five years with 50% funding through World Bank Loan. The Mission aims to make India a hub for design and development of novel, affordable and effective biopharmaceutical products.

Miscellaneous News The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi in collaboration with the Embassy of Israel in India and the Petach Tikva

Museum of Art, Israel is organizing an exhibition titled ‘To the End of Land’-contemporary art from Israel on the occasion of 25 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Google’s Internet Saathi programme, which is aimed at making rural women digitally literate and enhance their livelihood options, has touched 1.5 lakh villages so far, covering 1.5 crore women. Google is rolling out this programme across the country in association with Tata Trust.

Books Book Author Other Info Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker Shri Pavan Varma

Mister M K Gandhi Ki Champaran Diary Arvind Mohan

Champaran Andolan 1917 Ashutosh Partheshwar

Pir Muhammad Munis: Kalam Ka Satyagrahi Collected and edited by Srikan

All Doors Opened Autobiography of Padma Shri (Late) Inder Sharma

My Journey from Marxism-Leninism to Nehruvian Socialism C H Hanumantha Rao

Obituaries Name Profession Other Info Rajinder Sachar Former Delhi High Court Chief

Justice

Bhimsain Khurana Filmmaker

C.V.Rajendran Movie Director

Surendra Nihal Singh Journalist He was former Chief Editor of The Statesman and The Indian Express

Barbara Bush Former US first lady

Ajith Malayalam Actor

MuninBarua Assamese film-maker

T.V.R. Shenoy Journalist

Nabi Tajima She was World’s oldest known person. 117 years old.

Dr Tony Daniel Athlete Joint secretary of All-India Athletic Federation and Chairman of its technical committee

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