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Permanent Indus Commission meet begins in Delhi
The Indian delegation
for the annual meeting
comprises India’s Indus
Water Commissioner P
K Saxena, a
representative of the
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and technical
experts, sources said.
Pakistan’s six-member delegation for the
commission’s 114th meeting is being led by
Syed Muhammad Mehar Ali Shah.
The IWT covers the water distribution and
sharing rights of six rivers — Beas, Ravi, Sutlej,
Indus, Chenab and Jhelum.
The treaty specifies that waters from the three
western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab —
are reserved for Pakistan, while waters from
eastern rivers — Ravi, Sutlej and Beas — are for
reserved for India.
NASA to send first mission to study 'heart' of Mars
Scheduled to launch on May 5, InSight - a stationary
lander - will also be the first NASA mission since the
Apollo moon landings to place a seismometer, a device
that measures quakes, on the soil of another planet.
“In some ways, InSight is like a scientific time
machine that will bring back information about
the earliest stages of Mars' formation 4.5 billion
years ago,” said Bruce Banerdt, principal
investigator for InSight.
InSight or the Interior Exploration using Seismic
Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport
mission, carries a suite of sensitive instruments
to gather data. Unlike a rover mission, these
instruments require a stationary lander from
which they can carefully be placed on and below
the martian surface, NASA said.
World Autism Awareness Day: 2 April
The 2018 World Autism Awareness Day observance at
United Nations Headquarters New York will focus on the
importance of empowering women and girls with autism
and involving them and their representative organizations
in policy and decision making to address these
challenges.
India replaces Vietnam to become second largest
producer of mobile phones
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.
With this, India replaced Vietnam to become the
second largest producer of mobile phones in
2017. With the rise in mobile phone production,
imports of the devices in the country also
reduced to less than half in 2017-18.
India is now the world’s No 1 almond importer
India has toppled China and Spain to emerge as the
world’s largest consumer of Almond in recent times.
• Almond imports into India rose 7 per cent to worth
about Rs 3,900 crore last year against Rs 3,640 crore in
2016.
India ranks 37th in global startup ecosystem in 2017:
Report
India ranked 37th in the global startup ecosystem in 2017,
according to a report released by global startup
ecosystem map Start up blink.
The list, measuring startup ecosystem strength
and activity, was topped by the United States
followed by the United Kingdom.
Indo-Kyrgyzstan joint training exercise KHANJAR-
V concludes
The fifth Indo-Kyrgyzstan Joint Training Exercise
KHANJAR-V culminated on 29 March, after a joint
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tactical validation exercise and a closing ceremony held
at Counter Insurgency Jungle Warfare School.
Two week of joint training that commenced on
16 March included understanding tactics of
platoon level, developing inter operability and
sharing of best practices.
International Day for Mine Awareness and
Assistance in Mine Action: 4 April
International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in
Mine Action is observed all over the world on 4 April.
This day is observed to create awareness about
the threat of mines, unexploded grenades and
other explosive hazards.
The theme for International Day for Mine
Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action 2018
is ‘Advancing Protection, Peace and
Development.’
‘VII Moscow Conference on International Security’
Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, who is on three-
day visit to Russia to attend ‘VII Moscow Conference on
International Security’ from 03 to 05 April 2018,
addressed the II Plenary Session of the Conference on the
theme titled ‘Global Security in a Polycentric World’
covering aspects related to current global defence,
security and strategic scenario on April 4 in the Russian
capital.
Raksha Mantri stated that for India, cooperation
with Russia is vital in ensuring stability and
security in our shared Eurasian neighbourhood,
especially in addressing the menace of terrorism.
Swaraj attended NAM ministerial conference in
Azerbaijan
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is in Baku to
attend the ministerial conference of the Non-Aligned
Movement being held in the capital of Azerbaijan.
Apart from her meeting with her counterpart
Elmar Mammadyarov, Swaraj is scheduled to
call on Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and
first Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva during
her stay in Baku.
Sahyog- Hyeoblyeog: Indian, Korean Coast Guards
Hold Joint Exercise
Indo-Korean joint anti-piracy, search and rescue exercise
‘Sahyog- Hyeoblyeog 2018’ was conducted off the
Chennai coast, in Tamil Nadu. The Korean Coast Guard
ship ‘Bodaro’ took part in the exercise.
Indian Coast Guard deployed a Dornier aircraft
to carry out sea-air coordinated search along with
ICG Shaurya, Rani Abbakka, C-423, C-431 in
the exercise.
India third-most vulnerable to cyber threats behind
US, China
India is the third-most vulnerable country in terms of
cyber threat risks including malware, spam, ransomware
and one of the most recent and difficult-to-detect ones -
cryptominers, according to a report.
About 5.09% global threats were detected in
India in 2017 as compared to 5.11% in 2016.
The US was was most vulnerable to attacks at
26.61% followed by China at 10.95%.
India ranks 10th on new Commonwealth
innovation index
India has ranked
10th on a new
Commonwealth
Innovation Index,
topped by the UK,
Singapore and Canada.
The index was launched as part of a new
Commonwealth Innovation Hub on the
sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London.
It has been created in partnership with the
United Nations World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO) and its annual Global
Innovation Index (GII).
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Indian PM Modi in Sweden for first India-Nordic
summit
Indian Prime Minister Modi is in Sweden, where he
will meet with the five Nordic prime ministers for
the first India-Nordic Summit.
The Nordic countries are generally
considered to refer to Denmark, Finland,
Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven have
held talks that focused on trade, growth,
global security and climate.
List of MOUs signed on the occasion of the visit
of Prime Minister to Stockholm
MOUs/Agreements between India and Sweden
Joint Declaration on India-Sweden
Innovation Partnership for a Sustainable
Future
MOUs/Agreements between India and Denmark
MOU on Cooperation in the field of
Sustainable and Smart Urban Development
MOU on Cooperation in the fields of Animal
Husbandry and Dairying
MOU on Food Safety Cooperation
MOU on Cooperation in Agricultural
Research and Education
MOUs/Agreements between India and Iceland
MOU on the Establishment of the ICCR
Chair for Hindi Language
World heritage day: 18 April
Every year, 18th April is celebrated Worldwide as
World Heritage Day to create awareness about
Heritage among communities.
This year the theme is “Heritage for
Generations” emphasizing on inter-
generational transfer of knowledge.
UNESCO established 18 April as the
International Day for Monuments and Sites
in 1983.
Bisket Jatra being celebrated in Nepal
In Nepal the famous Bisket Jatra is being celebrated
in Bhaktapur and other parts of Kathmandu valley.
The nine day annual festival marks
beginning of Nepali new year.
The Jatra begins four days before the start of
new year. It is believed that the festival
started during Malla dynasty.
Saudi Arabia opens 1st movie theater in 35 years
The opening of the first movie theater in Saudi
Arabia has been highly anticipated across the
country, after over 35 years of prohibition for
religious reasons.
The first film screening is to be in the capital
Riyadh, where a mixed Saudi and foreign
audience watched the Marvel superhero film
"Black Panther".
BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank
Governors Meeting in Washington D.C
The first meeting of
the BRICS Finance
Ministers and
Central Bank
Governors was held
in the sidelines of
the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings on 19th April,
2018 in Washington D.C.
Ministry of Finance, Government of India
was represented in the meeting by Shri
Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary,
Department of Economic Affairs (EA).
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The main issues that the meeting discussed
were related to enhancing the project
pipelines of New Development Bank (NDB)
evenly across member countries, expansion
of NDB’s membership, the proposal of the
South African Presidency for setting up a
working group on illicit financial flows and
a BRICS Task Force on Public Private
Partnership.
Issues related to BRICS Contingent Reserve
Arrangement (CRA) as well as BRICS Bond
Fund were also discussed.
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
2018 held in London
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
2018, also known as CHOGM 2018, was the 25th
meeting of the heads of government of the
Commonwealth of Nations.
It was held in the United Kingdom. Prime
Minister attended the meeting for India.
The meeting had been planned to have been
held by Vanuatu at the end of 2017, but was
moved to the United Kingdom after the
impact of Cyclone Pam on the infrastructure
of Vanuatu.
The meeting was then postponed to April
2018 due to other international
commitments.
Rwanda has been selected as host of the next
Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting (CHOGM), to be held in 2020.
Malaria Summit 2018 held in London
Malaria Summit 2018 was held recently in London.
Leaders from 15 Commonwealth counties,
along with The Prince of Wales and Bill
Gates, gathered in London to re-focus and
reignite global efforts to beat malaria for
good.
While significant progress has been made in
recent years, a child under five still dies from
malaria every two m
World Earth Day: 22 April
Earth Day is an annual
event celebrated on
April 22.
Worldwide,
various events
are held to
demonstrate
support for
environmental protection.
First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day events in
more than 193 countries are now coordinated
globally by the Earth Day Network.
On Earth Day 2016, the landmark Paris
Agreement was signed by the United States,
China, and some 120 other countries.
The theme for World Earth Day 2018 is 'End
Plastic Pollution'.
Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) – 2018
The 6th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium
(IONS) and Conclave of Chiefs is being hosted by
Iran at Tehran from 23 to 25 April 2018.
The Chief of the Naval Staff is leading a four
member Indian delegation for the event.
The IONS was conceived by the Indian Navy
in 2008.
The forum seeks to enhance maritime
cooperation among navies of the littoral
states of the Indian Ocean Region by
providing an open and inclusive forum for
discussion on regionally relevant maritime
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issues that would lead to common
understanding on the way ahead.
The inaugural edition of IONS was held in
February 2008 at New Delhi, with Indian
Navy as the Chair for two years.
This was followed by UAE from 2010 -
2012, South Africa from 2012 - 2014,
Australia from 2014 - 2016 and Bangladesh
from 2016 - 2018.
World Health Day: 7 April
The World Health
Day is a global
health awareness day
organized globally
on 7th April.
World Health Day is one of the eight official
health campaigns which are marked by the
World Health Organization.
The first World Health Day was observed in
1948 by the WHO.
The theme of World Health Day 2018 is:
Universal health coverage: everyone,
everywhere.
India visit further strengthened friendly relations
between both countries: Nepal PM
Prime Minister of Nepal K. P. Sharma Oli has said
that his India visit has further strengthened friendly
relations between both the countries. Talking to
media persons at Tribhuvan international airport in
Kathmandu after returning from 3 day visit to India
on Sunday, Oli said that discussion with Indian
leaders was cordial and positive.
The two countries also agreed to develop
inland waterways and construct a rail line
from Raxaul in India to Kathmandu in Nepal.
India and Equatorial Guinea sign four
agreements
India and Equatorial Guinea signed four agreements
including in the field of health. The agreements were
signed following delegation level talks. President
Kovind had one on one talks with his Equatorial
Guinea counterpart. India will assist Equatorial
Guinea in agriculture, mining,
health,telecommunications and IT.
President : Teodoro Obiang Nguema
Mbasogo
Capital: Malabo
Currency: Franc
UAE, Malaysia conclude joint military exercise
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malaysia
concluded "Desert Tiger 5" joint military exercise
aimed at sharing expertise and enhancing joint
military actions.
The drill was also aimed at raising the level
of performance and combat efficiency and
working together based on a strategy to
improve the overall ability and combat
readiness of the ground forces.
President Kovind holds delegation-level talks
with Swaziland King Mswati III in Mbabane
President Ram Nath Kovind, on a three-nation
Africa visit, held delegation-level talks with
Swaziland King Mswati III in Mbabane.
India and Swaziland signed two agreements
on health and visa waiver in the presence of
President Kovind and King Mswati.
President Kovind was conferred with Order
of the Lion, the highest award of Swaziland.
UNSC holds an emergency meeting on suspected
use of chemical weapons in Syria
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The UN Security Council held an emergency
meeting on the suspected use of chemical weapons
in Syria, at the request of the United States and 8
other countries.
The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de
Mistura, took part in the meeting via a video
link from Switzerland. He denounced the
alleged use of chemical weapons as a grave
violation of international law.
Conference on Water, Environment and Climate
Change to begin in Nepal
An international conference on ‘Water,
Environment and Climate Change: Knowledge
Sharing and Partnership’ will start in Kathmandu.
The three-day event is being organised by
the Department of Water Supply and
Sewerage, Govt of Nepal in association with
the Society of Public Health Engineers Nepal
(Sophen) and Nepal Engineers Association.
The basic objective of the conference is to
bring together professionals, academicians,
researchers, entrepreneurs, government and
non-government institutions to discuss and
deliberate on challenges, opportunities and
strategies related to water and environmental
issues.
Capital: Kathmandu
Currency: Nepalese rupee
Prime minister: Khadga Prasad Oli
President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari
World Homoeopathy Day: 10 April
A two-day scientific convention is being organised
in New Delhi by Ministry of AYUSH on the
occasion of World Homoeopathy Day, on 10-11th
April 2018.
The Vice President Shri. M. Venkaiah Naidu
will be the chief guest at the function while
Minister of State (I/C) for AYIJSH Shri
Shripad Yesso Naik will preside.
This day is observed to commemorate the
birth anniversary of the founder of
Homoeopathy Dr. Christian Friedrich
Samuel Hahnemann.
The theme of this convention is "Innovate:
Evolve; Progress: Exploring Science since
40 years”.
Nepal President inaugurates International
Conference on Human Rights
Inaugurating an International Conference on Human
Rights in South Asia in Kathmandu, Nepal President
Bidya Devi Bhandari said that understanding of
human rights should not be confined to speeches and
writings but it should also be part of our daily lives.
The conference is organized by the National
Human Rights Commission of Nepal.
The theme of conference is “Identifying
Challenges, Assessing Progress, Moving
Forward: Addressing Impunity and
Realizing Human Rights in South Asia”.
Cabinet approves Headquarters Agreement
between India and the ISA
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval
for entering into Headquarters (Host country)
Agreement between India and the International
Solar Alliance (ISA) and authorizing the Ministry of
External Affairs for signing the Headquarter
Agreement.
The Agreement was signed on 26th March,
2018.
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The Headquarters Agreement will
institutionalize the functional arrangements
between India and ISA.
It will help in smooth transition of ISA as
international inter-governmental
organization.
Creation of ISA will lead to accelerated solar
technology development and deployment in
ISA member countries including India.
Economic Freedom Index 2018: India ranks 130
India jumped 13 places to achieve the 130th spot in
this year's Index of Economic Freedom published by
the Heritage Foundation, an American think-tank.
As per the latest edition, India moved up to
the 130th spot, up from 143 in 2017.
India's economic freedom score was 54.5.
Hong Kong topped the index followed by
Singapore and New Zealand.
Bangladesh Ends Reservation in Govt Jobs
Bangladesh Prime
Minister Sheikh
Hasina said she has
decided to scrap the
quota system in
government services
after thousands of students marched across the
country in protest.
Prime Minister Hasina has suggested
abolishing the quota system for government
jobs altogether.
The premier, however, said the government
could make special arrangements for jobs for
the people with disabilities and the backward
ethnic minority ones.
Pakistan bars former PM Nawaz Sharif from
holding office for life
Pakistan's Supreme Court has disqualified deposed
prime minister Nawaz Sharif from holding office for
life.
Sharif, 67, resigned in July after the Supreme
Court disqualified him from holding office
over an undeclared source of income.
World Book Day: 23 April
World Book Day or World Book and Copyright Day
is a yearly event on April 23rd, organized by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), to promote reading,
publishing and copyright.
In the United Kingdom, the day is
recognized on the first Thursday in March.
World Book Day was celebrated for the first
time on 23 April 1995.
In 2018, World Book Day's theme is
“Reading, it's my right”.
15th SCO Defence Ministers meeting in China
India is participating
in the Shanghai
Cooperation
Organisation (SCO)
Defence Ministers
Meeting for the first
time.
The 15th SCO Defence Ministers Meeting
was held at Beijing in China on 24 April
2018.
Speaking at the meeting, Raksha Mantri
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted India’s
keen interest in developing an expanded
partnership with the broader Eurasian
region.
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In doing so, India has sought to build on her
long-standing ties of deep mutual trust and
confidence with Russia, vibrant historical
and cultural linkages with countries of
Central Asia and closer development
partnership with China and to further
enhance and deepen ties with all the member
countries for mutual benefit.
Bangladesh's first satellite to go aloft on May 7
Bangladesh is all set to become a member of the
exclusive club of satellite-owning countries as its
first commercial satellite "Bangabandhu-1" will
likely be flying to space on May 7 from the US.
Bangladeshi Telecommunication and ICT
Minister Mustafa Jabbar made the
announcement.
The satellite will be launched from Florida's
Cape Canaveral.
In September 2016, Bangladesh signed a 14-
billion-taka (about $180 million) loan
agreement with the Hong Kong and
Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) to
finance the country's first-ever satellite
"Bangabandhu-I".
World Malaria Day: 25 April
World Malaria Day is an international observance
commemorated every year on 25 April and
recognizes global efforts to control malaria.
Globally, 3.3 billion people in 106 countries
are at risk of malaria.
WMD is one of eight official global public
health campaigns currently marked by the
World Health Organization (WHO), along
with World Health Day, World Blood Donor
Day, World Immunization Week, World
Tuberculosis Day, World No Tobacco Day,
World Hepatitis Day and World AIDS Day.
World Malaria Day 2018 theme is ‘Ready to
beat malaria’.
India ranks 138 in World Press Freedom Index
India slipped in the annual World Press Freedom
Index 2018 for the second straight year, falling two
places to rank 138th among 180 countries in the
latest list.
The country was ranked 136th in 2015,
gained three places to 133rd in 2016, and fell
back to 136th last year.
Norway once again topped the list, while
North Korea found itself at the bottom.
World Intellectual Property Day: 26 April
World Intellectual Property Day is observed
annually on 26 April.
The event was established by the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
in 2000 to "raise awareness of how patents,
copyright, trademarks and designs impact on
daily life".
26 April was chosen as the date for World
Intellectual Property Day because it
coincides with the date on which the
Convention Establishing the World
Intellectual Property Organization entered
into force in 1970.
Morocco to host 2021 annual meetings of World
Bank, IMF
Morocco has been designated to host the 2021
annual meetings of the World Bank (WB) and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The choice, the second of its kind for the
African continent since 1973, coincided with
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the 60th anniversary of Morocco's joining
the two institutions on April 25, 1958.
The announcement came after a long
process, which involved the evaluation of 13
countries' bid.
India-China Informal Summit
Prime Minister of
India Shri Narendra
Modi and President
of People's
Republic of China
Mr. Xi Jinping held
their first Informal
Summit in Wuhan on April 27-28, 2018.
The aim of the summit is to exchange views
on overarching issues of bilateral and global
importance, and to elaborate their respective
visions and priorities for national
development in the context of the current and
future international situation.
They shared the view that peaceful, stable
and balanced relations between India and
China will be a positive factor for stability
amidst current global uncertainties.
E-Way Bill for Inter-State movement of goods comes
into force
With the beginning of
the financial year 2018-
19, the e-way Bill
System for Inter-State
movement of goods
comes into force; An E-
way Bill will be required for moving goods worth over
50,000 rupees from one state to another.
The electronic way Bill system has come into
effect across the country. Under this system
businesses and transporters have to produce
before a GST inspector e-way bill for moving
goods worth over Rs 50,000 from one state to
another.
Gail arm to invest Rs 3,000 cr in Dabhol terminal to
double
The newly-created arm of state-run gas major Gail India,
Konkan LNG, will pump in around Rs 3,000 crore to
double the capacity at its liquefied natural gas (LNG)
terminal at Dabhol in the Konkan region of Maharashtra
to 10 million tonne over the next three years.
Konkan LNG, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Gail,
had received the first 1.2 lakh tonne shipment of
the 5.8-mt LNG contracted from the first-ever
long-term agreement with the US signed way
back in 2011 and 2013.
Tibetans to host 'Thank You India' campaign in Delhi
Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit will preside
over the opening ceremony of the Cultural Festival of
Tibet event, a part of the year-long 'Thank You India'
campaign organised by the Central Tibetan
Administration (CTA), in New Delhi.
• CTA President Lobsang Sangay will also attend the
inaugural ceremony that will continue till April 4.
• Apart from the exhibitions, film screening and
performances by the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts,
the festival would also see panel discussion on "India and
Tibet: Ancient Ties, Current Bonds".
Delhi becomes first city to roll-out Euro VI fuel
With an aim to combat the rising levels of air pollution in
Delhi-NCR region, petrol pumps in the capital 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.
• Other cities like Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and
Faridabad along with 13 major cities, including Mumbai,
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Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, will also
switch over to cleaner BS-VI grade fuel from January 1
next year.
• However, BS- VI fuel will be rolled out in rest of the
country by April 2020.
Six monuments in North Eastern States identified for
listing under World Heritage Site
As many as 6 monuments/historical sites in the North
Eastern states have been identified tentatively for listing
under World Heritage Site.
Details of monuments/sites identified/placed under
tentative list for listing under world heritage in the north
eastern states are given below:
1. Apatani Cultural Landscape, Arunachal Pradesh
2. Iconic Saree Weaving Clusters of India
3. Moidams – the Mound – Burial System of the
Ahom Dynasty, Assam
4. Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh
5. River Island of Majuli in midstream of
Brahmaputra River in Assam
6. Thembang Fortified Village, Arunachal Pradesh
SIDBI Celebrates its Foundation day with launch of '
Samridhi’
SIDBI celebrated its foundation day on April 2 as day of
Sampark (connect), Sanwad (interaction), Suraksha
(security) and Sampreshan (disseminate).
• Chairman Managing Director of SIDBI Shri
Mohammad Mustafa launched a series of initiatives from
its Lucknow bank headquarters.
• Chairman SIDBI also launched Samridhhi- the virtual
assistant on banks revamped universal loan portal
www.udyamimitra.in.
• During the day, a ‘Bankability Kit’ (brought in
partnership with Bank of Baroda and IDBI Bank) was
also launched.
Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan-launched
The Ministry of Human Resource Development has
launched the Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA), a
convergent framework across School Education and
Higher Education aiming to encourage children towards
learning Science and Mathematics.
• One of the interventions under RAA is strengthening
of school Science and Mathematics laboratories, through
the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).
• Under RMSA, an amount of Rs. 179.73 crore has been
approved in 2017-18, for in-service training of science
and maths teachers.
Mamata Banerjee govt rolls out ‘Rupashree’ for
marriages of poor women
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.
• ‘Rupashree’ scheme follows the chief minister’s
ambitious ‘Kanyashree’ project which has drawn global
applause.
• For the ‘Rupashree’ scheme, a woman has to fill the
application form before her marriage and submit it to the
Block Development Officer (BDO) or Municipality
Office.
• An amount of Rs 25,000 will be credited to her bank
account before her marriage.
• A sum of Rs 1500 crore has been earmarked for the
project.
NIRF India Rankings 2018’ for Higher Education
Institutions
The Union Minister of Human Resource Development,
Shri Prakash Javadekar, released the NIRF India
Rankings 2018 in various categories on the basis of
performance of Higher Educational Institutions in a
programme held in New Delhi.
Minister of State Human Resource
Development, Dr. Satya Pal Singh released the
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report on the NIRF Rankings during the event.
69 top institutions in 9 categories were given
awards at today’s event.
In this third edition of India Rankings, a total of
2809 institutions have participated in 9
categories.
Given below is the list of winners in various
categories:
Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru in overall
category
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in
management category.
Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru in overall
in university category
Miranda House, Delhi in college category
National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education
and Research, Mohali in pharmacy category
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New
Delhi in medical category
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in
architecture category
National Law School of India University,
Bengaluru in law category
Indian Institute of Technology Madras in
engineering category
India to be partner country for Ambiente 2019
India will be the partner country for International
Frankfurt Trade Fair, Ambiente 2019 to be held during
February 8-12, 2019.
This was announced by Messe Frankfurt at a
festive ceremony on the penultimate day of
Ambiente 2018.
Trial run of first India-Bangladesh container train
flagged off
The trial run of the first container train between India and
Bangladesh was flagged off from Kolkata city.
The train left for Bangladesh with 60 containers
loaded with almost 1,200 tonnes of de-oiled
cake, used as a raw material for animal feed.
It will pass through Sealdah, Naihati, Ranaghat
and Gede in India and Darsana and Ishurdi in
Bangladesh before reaching Bangabandhu West
station, 117 kilometres off capital city of Dhaka.
Piyush Goyal Launches UTTAM APP for Coal
Quality Monitoring
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.
UTTAM App ensures accountability,
transparency, effectiveness and efficiency in coal
ecosystem.
UTTAM is an example of leveraging technology
to facilitate a bidirectional channel between Coal
India Limited and a common citizen.
Prime Minister to inaugurate International Energy
Forum in New Delhi
India will host the 16th International Energy Forum (IEF)
Ministerial Meeting from 10-12th April 2018 in New
Delhi.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will
formally inaugurate the Meeting on 11th April
2018.
Petroleum Ministers from 42 countries would
attend the Meeting.
The biennial IEF Ministerial Meetings are the
world's largest gathering of Energy Ministers
13 WiFiStudy.com
who engage in a dialogue on global energy
issues.
The IEF Ministerial meetings are informal
dialogues, at both the political and technical
levels, aimed to improve policy and investment
decisions, and through increased knowledge and
experience sharing.
Points to Remember
The International Energy Forum (IEF) is an
inter-governmental arrangement set up in 1991,
based in Riyadh.
It serves as a neutral facilitator of informal, open,
informed and continuing global energy dialogue
among its members comprising of energy
producing and energy consuming states,
including transit countries.
Indian maritime day: 5 April
The National Maritime Day of India is observed on 5
April every year across the country.
On this day in 1919 navigation history was
created when SS Loyalty, the first ship of The
Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd.,
journeyed to the United Kingdom.
The theme of the National Maritime Day in 2018
is ‘Indian Shipping – An Ocean of opportunity’.
Samta Diwas: 5 April
A homage function on the occasion of the 111th birth
anniversary of Babu Jagjivan Ram was organised by the
Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation under Ministry
of Social Justice & Empowerment at Samta Sthal,
opposite Rajghat, New Delhi.
The Function at Samta Sthal started by paying
homage by Union Minister of Social Justice &
Empowerment and President Babu Jagjivan Ram
National Foundation Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot,
Minister of State for Social Justice &
Empowerment Shri Ramdas Athawale, former
Speaker of Lok Sabha Smt. Meira Kumar and
senior officers of the Ministry, family members
of Babuji and large number of followers.
Govt. forms committee to regulate news portals
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has
instituted a committee to regulate online portals,
including news websites, entertainment sites and media
aggregators.
The 10-member committee will include
secretaries of the departments of Home, Legal
Affairs, Electronics and Information and
Technology, and Industrial Policy and
Promotion.
The CEO of MyGov and a representative each of
the Press Council of India and National
Broadcasters’ Association will also be part of the
committee.
Global Logistics Summit Held In New Delhi
The Global Logistics Summit was held in New Delhi.
It was organized by the Department of
Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry,
along with FICCI (Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce & Industry) and the
World Bank Group.
The Summit acts as a platform to hold
discussions with global experts, academics,
government officials and private sector and
industry representatives.
Exercise Gaganshakti-2018
An all encompassing
coordinated and
composite exercise
named Gaganshakti
is being conducted
by the IAF from 08-
22 Apr 18.
The aim of this exercise is real time coordination,
deployment and employment of Air Power in a
short & intense battle scenario.
During Gaganshakti IAF will exercise the entire
machinery to validate its concept of operations
and war waging capability.
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Ministry of Tribal Affairs to launch first ever “Van
Dhan Vikas Kendra”
The Ministry of Tribal affairs has approved
establishment of the first multipurpose “Van Dhan Vikas
Kendra” on pilot basis for establishment in
Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh State.
It has been setup for providing skill upgradation
and capacity building training and setting up of
primary processing and value addition facility.
This first model Van Dhan Vikas Kendra is being
implemented for training of 300 beneficiaries
with a total outlay of Rs 43.38 lakhs for training,
providing equipment’s & tools for primary level
processing and infrastructure & building for
housing the Kendra.
Khadi Store Locator App Launched
The 9th National Board of Khadi and Village Industries
Commission (KVIC) met in New Delhi.
The Minister of State for MSME, Giriraj Singh
chaired the meeting.
The Minister launched a mobile phone
application for locating 4,000 Khadi stores in the
country.
There are more than 8,000 Khadistores in India,
the rest of stores will also be available on the
store locater by the end of this month.
This was informed by Vinai Kumar Saxena,
Chairman KVIC in the board meeting.
CIC to hold seminar on Health and RTI
The Central Information Commission (CIC) is holding a
seminar on the topic “Health and Right to Information
Act”.
The Seminar is aimed at Health and Right to
Information Act 2005, with a view to improve
governance in the Health sector.
Dr. V. K. Paul, Member, Niti Aayog and Shri
Indu Bhushan, CEO, Ayushman Bharat will also
attend the seminar.
Gram Swaraj Abhiyan on Ambedkar Jayanti
The Prime Minister
has 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.
As a special initiative during the Gram
Swaraj Abhiyan, universal coverage under
seven welfare programmes including
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in
21058 identified villages with large number
of underprivileged households across the
country has been contemplated.
Highest importance is given to saturate these
villages with the benefits of seven welfare
programmes.
Gobardhan Yojna' to be launched from Karnal
on Apr 30
Gobardhan Yojna, a central government scheme for
managing and converting cattle dung and solid
waste into manure and biogas, will be launched
nationally from Haryana's Karnal 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 central and state governments would
provide funds in the ratio of 60:40.
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4th National Workshop for Training on Autism
Started in New Delhi
The three day National Workshop for Training of
Master Trainers on AutismTools- INCLEN and
ISAA for Diagnosis and Management of Autism
Spectrum Disorder in Children has started in
VigyanBhawan, New Delhi.
The Secretary, Department of Empowerment
of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) , Smt.
Shakuntala D.Gamlin, inaugurated the
workshop in presence of Dr. K. K. Pandey,
Chairman, National Trust,ShriMukesh Jain,
JS & CEO, National Trust, and various stake
holders associated.
The workshop is organised by the National
Trust under Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment in collaboration with AIIMS,
New Delhi.
The objective of this workshop is to make
Doctors from across the country aware about
Autism Tools to describe the diagnostic
criteria as well as to clinically evaluate a
child with suspected autism spectrum
disorder using Autism Tools.
TN govt launches mobile app for farmers
In a bid to use technology for farmers’ benefit, the
Tamil Nadu Government has come out with a
mobile application that will allow ryots to have
access to nine types of services, including details
about their crop insurance.
Chief Minister K Palaniswami has launched
the bi-lingual ‘Uzhavan’ (farmer) app.
The app can be used by farmers to get
information on farm subsidies, book farm
equipment and related infrastructure and get
details on their crop insurance, besides
receiving weather forecast for the next four
days.
Ganga Hariteema Yojana launched in 27
districts of Uttar Pradesh
The Uttar Pradesh Government launched the Ganga
Hariteema Yojana, also known as Ganga Greenery
scheme in the 27 districts of Uttar Pradesh that are
located on the bank of river Ganga.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched
the scheme at Allahabad in a function
organised on the bank of Sangam, the
confluence of rivers of Ganga, Yamuna and
mythical Saraswati.
Under the scheme, plantation will be carried
out in one-kilometre areas from the banks of
river.
Common people will also be encouraged for
plantation on their private lands under 'One
Person One Tree' slogan.
Assam's Spring Festival begins in Manas
National Park
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.
The National park which is also a tiger and
rhino reserve covers five districts of Assam -
- Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang, Udalguri and
Barpeta.
8th Theatre Olympics Concludes in Mumbai
After a glorious run of 51 days across 17 cities of
India, the historic event 8th Theatre Olympics drew
to a colourful close in Mumbai.
The 8th Theatre Olympics was inaugurated
by Hon’ble Vice President of India, Shri
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Venkaiah Naidu on 17th February 2018 at
the majestic Red Fort in New Delhi. This
edition of Theatre Olympics brought
together around 25,000 artists under the
theme “Flag of Friendship”. The event
witnessed 450 shows from more than 30
countries performed across 17 cities
The 51-day long 8th Theatre Olympics, the
biggest international theatre festival held in
India for the first time.
Over-the-counter sale of 14 steroid creams
banned by Health Ministry
To prevent the indiscriminate sale of ointments
containing steroids and antibiotics without
prescription, the Union Health Ministry has banned
over-the-counter sale of 14 such products. The
preparations were included under the Schedule H of
the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
The decision was taken following
consultation with the Drugs Technical
Advisory Board, which had recommended a
ban on the sale of such creams without a
prescription and also submitted their
recommendations to the Central Drugs
Standards Control Organisation.
Some ointments that have been banned are
alclometasone, beclomethasone, desonide
and fluocinonide.
Andhra CM Naidu inaugurates 'Happy Cities
Summit 2018' in Amaravati
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu
Naidu and Founder of Isha Foundation Sadhguru
Jaggi Vasudev has inaugurated a three-day long
'Happy Cities Summit 2018' in Amaravati.
Around 1,000 delegates from India and
abroad will take part in the Summit.
This is first of its kind program in India.
Govt. bans imports of hormone oxytocin
The Union
government has
banned imports of
oxytocin to stop its
misuse in the
livestock industry,
where activists say it causes hormonal imbalances
and shortens the lives of milch animals.
Often called the ‘love hormone’, oxytocin is
released naturally in human bonding
activities such as, childbirth and
breastfeeding.
The government has decided to rely on
domestic production to satisfy requirements
of the hormone.
Transgenders to be recognised as independent
gender category in PAN
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 move is to help transgenders obtain their
PAN card and help them link it with their
Aadhaar cards.
Till now, only male and female gender
categories were available to be chosen on the
PAN application form.
VP inaugurates “Scientific Convention on World
Homoeopathy Day”
The Vice President of India Shri. M. Venkaiah
Naidu inaugurated the two-day “Scientific
Convention on World Homeopathy Day” organized
by the Ministry of AYUSH.
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The convention was attended by more than
1500 delegates, which included
homoeopathic researchers, scientists from
allied sciences, practitioners, students,
industrialists as well as representatives of
various homoeopathic associations.
First Meeting of the ‘NITI Forum for North East’
held in Agartala
The first meeting of the newly constituted ‘NITI
Forum for North East’ was held in Agartala, Tripura.
The meeting was organized by the NITI
Aayog, Ministry of DoNER and the North
Eastern Council (NEC).
In his inaugural address, Shri Rajiv Kumar
said the focus of development projects in the
NER will be based on the concept of “HIRA”
(Highways, Inland Waterways, Railways
and Airways) as spelled out by the Prime
Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
He said emphasis will also be made on
Education, Health and Skill Development in
the region.
He further said that Horticulture, Tourism,
Food Processing, use of Bamboo and Made
in North-East will be developed through five
Mission Mode projects in a time-bound
manner.
World's largest solar park to come up in Gujarat
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has 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.
The proposed solar power generation project
would be set up in 11,000 hectares of land
with an investment of Rs 25,000 crore.
The project will contribute significantly in
achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
target of producing 175 gigawatt of
electricity through renewable energy sources
by 2022.
FSSAI launches initiative to address Vitamin D
deficiency
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI) has 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.
The project was launched at National Bal
Bhavan here, and saw participation of
around 600 students from NCERT, NDMC
and North MCD Schools.
The initiative has been conceptualised by
McCannHealth and supported by Kwality
(Ltd).
Delhi's IGI in world's top 20 busiest airports
Robust air traffic
growth at the
capital's Indira
Gandhi
International (IGI)
Airport has
propelled it into the
list of top 20 airports in terms of passenger traffic in
2017.
According to the Airports Council
International (ACI), Kolkata, Hyderabad,
Bangalore and Chennai were among the
fastest growing airports in the world last
year.
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ISRO puts navigation satellite INRSS-1I into
orbit
The Indian Space Research Organisation's
navigation satellite INRSS-1I was launched by
PSLV-C41 and successfully placed in the designated
orbit.
PSLV-C41/IRNSS-1I Mission blasted off at
4.04 am from the first launchpad at the
Sathish Dhawan Space Centre.
Prime Minister to inaugurate DefExpo 2018 in
Chennai on April 12
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will visit
Tamilnadu on April 12. He will inaugurate the 10th
edition of Defence Expo, DefExpo-2018 in Chennai
at Tiruvidanthal, in Kancheepuram district.
The tag line of DefExpo this year is “‘India:
The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub”
to showcase India’s capability in export of
defence systems and components.
More than 670 exhibitors including over 150
international exhibitors will take part in the
DefExpo.
MSME sector will have a fair representation
this time around 15%.
Indian participation include majors like Tata,
L&T, Kalyani, Bharat Forge, Mahindra,
MKU, DRDO, HAL, BEL, BDL, BEML,
MDL, GRSE, GSL, HSL, MIDHANI,
Ordnance Factories, and many others.
Jitendra Singh launches online dashboard to
monitor public grievances on real time basis
The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge)
of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern
Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public
Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space,
Dr. Jitendra Singh launched an online dashboard
developed by Department of Administrative
Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).
The dashboard will monitor public
grievances on real time basis and
periodically review progress of systemic
reforms.
The systemic reforms and their monitoring
metrics, catering to grievance issues are
highlighted on the dashboard.
This will enable concerned
Ministries/Departments to monitor
implementation of these reforms.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh
said that the DARPG is the nodal department
for the dashboard that was launched today,
but it will also be helpful to the concerned.
PM to inaugurate Dr. Ambedkar National
Memorial at Alipur Road in Delhi
On the eve of the birth anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
inaugurate the Dr. Ambedkar National Memorial
at 26, Alipur Road in Delhi on April 13th.
This is the place where Dr. Ambedkar
attained Mahaparinirvana on 6th December
1956.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the
foundation stone of the memorial on March
21, 2016.
PM Modi inaugurates 16th International Energy
Forum Ministerial Meeting
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has
inaugurated 16th
International Energy
Forum Ministerial
Meeting in New Delhi.
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It is the largest gathering of Ministers from
energy consuming, producing and transit
countries.
Hosted by India and co-hosted by China and
Korea, the meeting aims to focus on how
global shifts, transition policies and new
technologies influence market stability and
future investment in the energy sector.
Eighth Regional 3R Forum concludes
The eighth 3R regional forum in Asia and pacific
being held in Indore from the 9th April 2018
concluded with the adoption of chair summary by
the participating nations reaffirming their
commitment to promoting the principles of 3R -
Reduce, Reuse & Recycle.
Addressing the valedictory session Smt
Maya Singh, Minister of Urban development
, Govt of Madhya Pradesh appreciated the
outcomes and achievements of the 3R forum
and expressed confidence in Forum's
capacity in propagation of 3R principles.
The 3R forum legacy was handed over to the
delegation of the Govt. of Thailand - the host
of the next 3R forum to be held in Bangkok,
which extended invitation to all the
participant nations.
Third India-Russia Military Industrial
Conference
The third India-Russia Military Industrial
Conference was held on the side-lines of DefExpo
2018 at Thiruvidanthai, Kancheepuram district on
the East Coast Road near Chennai.
Around 75 Indian defence sector
manufacturing companies and 28 Original
Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) from
Russian industry participated in the
conference.
Russia Military Industrial Conferences were
held in past, first one in March 2017 in New
Delhi and second one in August 2017 in
Moscow.
Union Home Minister launches e-FRRO scheme
The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh
launched the web-based application ‘e-FRRO’ (e-
Foreigners Regional Registration Office).
He said the e-FRRO scheme is aimed at
building a centralized, transparent online
platform for the foreigners to avail visa
related services and to provide Faceless,
Cashless and Paperless services to the
foreigners with user friendly experience.
Delhi Launches 'Mission Buniyaad' To Improve
Students' Learning Skills
The Delhi government has launched the "Mission
Buniyaad" scheme to improve learning levels of
children from classes 3 to 9.
Primary education falls within the ambit of
the Municipal Corporations of Delhi
(MCDs) while the Delhi government is
supposed to offer education from classes 6 to
12.
Under the programme which will run from
April to June for class 3 to 5 in MCD schools
and class 6 to 9 in government schools,
children will undergo a reading level
assessment based on which they will be
enrolled in specialised classes.
PM inaugurates Health and Wellness Centre to
mark the launch of Ayushman Bharat
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On the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a Health and
Wellness Centre, to mark the launch of the Union
Government’s ambitious Health Assurance
Programme – Ayushman Bharat.
The Centre was inaugurated at Jangla
Development Hub, in the aspirational district
of Bijapur in Chhattisgarh.
He inaugurated a bank branch at Jangla and
distributed loan sanction letters under the
Mudra Scheme to select beneficiaries. He
also interacted with Rural BPO employees.
RK Singh inaugurates Solar Lamp Assembly &
Distribution Center
Shri R K Singh, Minister of State (IC) for Power and
New & Renewable Energy, Government of India, on
the occasion of 127th Birth Anniversary of Bharat
Ratna Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar launched a number of
initiatives for the welfare of the underprivileged.
Of the several initiatives launched, Shri
Singh inaugurated Assembly & Distribution
Centre for Solar Study Lamps at Mahuli
village in Arrah.
In this centre, local women Self Help Group
(SHG) will assemble Solar Study Lamps and
distribute them to underprivileged students
who do not have access to electricity.
India Mobile Congress 2018 to be held in New
Delhi
India is going to host its second India Mobile
Congress (IMC) between 25-27 October at the
national capital.
It will be hosted by the Department of
telecommunications and the Cellular
Operators Association of India (COAI).
The first edition of IMC held in September
2017, was attended by around 2,000
delegates, 32,000 visitors, 152 speakers, 100
exhibitors and 100 start-ups.
Petroleum ministry to observe Ujjwala Diwas on
April 20
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
(MoPNG) has decided to celebrate April 20, 2018 as
the Ujjwala Diwas, as a part of the as a part of the
‘Gram Swaraj Abhiyan’.
Around 15000 LPG Panchayats will be
organized across the country to promote
learning through peer group interaction –
‘Kuch seekhein, Kuch Sikhayein’.
Home Expo India 2018 to be inaugurated on Apr
16
The seventh edition of Home Expo India 2018,
organised by Export Promotion Council for
Handicrafts (EPCH), will be inaugurated on
16th April at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater
Noida.
Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani will
inaugurate the fair, while Ajay Tamta,
Minister of State for Textiles, will be
the guest of honour.
Home Expo India 2018 is expected to
generate business deals for direct import.
EPCH is the nodal export promotion body
for handicrafts in India.
Maharashtra govt launches centre for
tribal development
The Maharashtra government has set up an
institution to evaluate and quantify special
development budget allocations and their impact on
tribal development.
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Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched
the institution — QUEST — in Mumbai.
Known as Quality Evaluation for
Sustainable Transformation centre, the state
has taken the first initiative in the country to
ensure development in lives of tribal people
through the projects undertaken is also
quantified.
Army Commanders’ Conference: April 18
The biannual Army Commanders’ Conference shall
commence on 16 April 2018.
The opening address will be given by
Hon’ble Minister of State for Defence, Shri
Subhash Ramrao Bhamre.
During the conference, chaired by General
Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff, the
senior commanders will deliberate on
specific issues to Army formations and
Army as a whole.
First regional conference of eastern states on
Water Resources
The first regional conference of eastern states on
Water Resources was held in Kolkata on April 16 to
address the outstanding water issues of these states.
The conference deliberated on finding a
solution to mitigate intra and intra-basin
issues relating to water resources in Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and West
Bengal.
The issue of interlinking of rivers also come-
up for discussion at the conference.
East Godavari, first district with complete LED
street lighting
East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh is all set to
become the country’s first ‘LED street light district’.
The rural LED street lighting programme in
the district entailing the installation of
around 3.1 lakh LED street lights has been
completed.
The exercise is expected to save around 34
Million Units (MU) annually.
AP is already ranked the best State in
implementation of energy efficiency and
conservation programmes by the World
Bank.
Sushma Swaraj and Shri Prakash Javadekar to
launch ‘Study in India’ portal of HRD Ministry
In another ground-
breaking initiative,
the ‘Study in India’
portal (www.
studyinindia.gov.in)
of HRD Ministry
will be launched at the India Habitat Centre on 18th
April 2018 by the Minister of External Affairs, Smt.
Sushma Swaraj in the presence of Minister of
Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash
Javadekar.
The portal will enable students from 30
countries across South Asia, Africa, CIS and
Middle East to select and apply for different
courses from 150 select Indian institutions
which are high on NAAC and NIRF ranking.
The Study in India is aimed at making India
a preferred destination for the foreign
students to pursue their education.
First Meeting of National Council under
POSHAN Abhiyaan
First meeting of National Council on India's
Nutrition Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyaan to
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be held on April 18, 2018 at Vigyan Bhawan in New
Delhi.
It will see the participation of Shri Rajiv
Kumar, Vice Chairman NITI Aayog, Shri
Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog apart from
representatives of various ministries of the
Central and State Governments.
The POSHAN Abhiyaan targets reduction in
the level of under-nutrition and other related
problems by ensuring convergence of
various nutrition related schemes.
Suresh Prabhu launches digital platform for
MSME Exporters
The Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Suresh
Prabhu launched the FIEO Global Linker- a digital
platform for MSME exporters to digitise their
businesses and join a global community of growing
businesses in New Delhi.
FIEO GlobalLinker is setup with a view to
make the business growth of SMEs simpler,
more profitable and enjoyable.
It is a growing global network currently
comprising over 140,000 SME firms, who
are seeking business collaboration and
growth opportunities through the use of their
electronic business card and digital profiles
created on the platform.
FIEO is available free of cost and it offers
exporters a range of features and benefits.
DARPAN-PLI App launched by Shri Manoj
Sinha
Hon’ble Minister of Communications Shri Manoj
Sinha launched here the DARPAN-PLI App, which
will help in collection of premium for PLI and RPLI
policies at Branch Post Offices anywhere in India,
with online updation of the policies.
Further, with launch of this App, indexing of
maturity claims in respect of PLI and RPLI
polices can be done at Branch Post Office
itself.
Shri Sinha said, with a view to achieve total
digitisation of postal operations in the
country, under the IT Modernisation Plan,
Department of Posts has launched DIGITAL
ADVANCEMENT OF RURAL POST
OFFICE FOR A NEW INDIA (DARPAN)
Project, which aims at connecting all 1.29
lakh Rural Branch Post Offices in the
country to enable them to do online Postal
and Financial Transactions.
Vice President Launches Atal Amrit Abhiyan
The Vice President
of India, Shri M.
Venkaiah Naidu has
said that there is a
need to create health
coverage schemes
that provide widest coverage to the young, aged and
infirm and those suffering from both critical acute
and chronic ailments.
He was addressing the gathering after
launching the Atal Amrit Abhiyan by Assam
Government, which seeks to provide access
to quality medical care to 3.2 crore people, in
Guwahati, Assam.
The Governor of Assam, Prof. Jagadish
Mukhi and the Chief Minister of Assam, Shri
Sarbananda Sonowal were present on the
occasion.
GITC 2018’ to be held in New Delhi
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“Global IT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities
(GITC), 2018” will be held in New Delhi during 8th
to 11th November, 2018.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in
this regard was signed between Department
of Empowerment of Persons with
Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social
Justice and Empowerment and
Rehabilitation International Korea.
As per MoU, both the parties have agreed to
cooperate in making all arrangements for the
successful events in providing all necessary
financial, logistics, manpower and other
facilities.
This event will have around 300 participants
including 120 Youth with disabilities from
24 Asia Pacific countries.
GITC is being held every year in Asia-
Pacific region and such events were held in
the past in countries like Korea, China,
Thailand, Vietnam etc.
Bihar has highest rate of crime against SC/STs
According to latest data released by National Crime
Records Bureau (NCRB), Bihar has the highest rate
of crimes against Schedule Caste/Schedule Tribe
population.
As per NCRB data, crime against SC/ST is
lowest in West Bengal.
Madhya Pradesh reported the highest rate of
crime (43.4%) against SCs specifically,
while West Bengal had the lowest at 6%.
Rajasthan reported the highest rate of crime
(12.9%) against STs specifically, while West
Bengal had the lowest at 1.6%.
Govt plan a Rs 637-crore Clean Air Programme
The Modi government has finalised a Rs 637-crore
National Clean Air Programme to improve the air
quality in India.
The 20-point programme shifts the onus of
fighting air pollution to the state
governments.
The programme, India’s first attempt at
working out a coordinated system to curb air
pollution, requires all the states to frame their
own Clean Air Programmes.
Parcel Directorate inaugurated by Shri Manoj
Sinha
Minister of State for Communications (Independent
Charge) and Minister of State for Railways Shri
Manoj Sinha has Inaugurated the newly created
Parcel Directorate in the Department of Posts.
The global decline in letter mail, and India
being no exception to this trend, has been
offset by an increase in packets and parcels.
This is primarily on account of the e-
commerce boom in India, with e-tailers
requiring integrated collection, aggregation,
sorting, transmission and delivery systems.
The parcel market (logistics and distribution
but excluding fulfilment and merchandise
value) in the country is growing at a rate of
15% per annum and is expected to reach Rs.
60,000 Crore by 2026 from the existing Rs.
18,000 Crore.
First Ever International SME Convention-2018
in New Delhi
One hundred and fifty participants from 31 countries
and 400 entrepreneurs from India will participate in
the four day International SME convention being
held in New Delhi from 22ndto 24th April.
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The Ministry of MSME has engaged with
over 35 International Trade Development
organisations to attract and invite able and
willing entrepreneurs.
The convention has specific focus on
inclusion of MSMEs in the Make in India
program & empowering women
entrepreneurs.
Chhattisgarh to Distribute Free Smartphones to
Over 50 Lakh People
The BJP government
in Chhattisgarh will
start distributing
smartphones to over
50 lakh people for
free from May under the Sanchar Kranti Yojana
(SKY), months ahead of assembly polls in the state.
Women heads of households will be the
priority recipients of the smartphones.
The Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion
Society (CHiPS) has started the preparation
for the distribution of phones, as per the
announcement made by the chief minister
last year to reduce the digital divides.
Regional Conference on “Urban Development:
Technological Solutions and Governance
Challenges”
Two day Regional Conference on “Urban
Development: Technological Solutions and
Governance Challenges” concluded in Ahmedabad,
Gujarat.
The Conference was organized by the
Ministry of Finance, Government of India in
collaboration with the Associated Chamber
of Commerce and Industry of India
(ASSOCHAM), Gujarat Council along with
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB), Research and Information System
for Developing Countries (RIS), an
autonomous research organization under the
Ministry of External Affairs.
The Conference was the third lead-up event
to the 3rd Annual Meeting of AIIB
scheduled to be held on 25th and 26th June,
2018 in Mumbai.
Before this Conference, two Regional
Conferences have already been held at
Kolkata and Vishakhapatnam.
In total, eight such Regional Conferences
will be held at different places in the country.
Vice President inaugurates 2-day event of 12th
Civil Services Day
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah
Naidu has said that translating “legislative intent”
into “programmatic content” and demonstrating to
the common citizens what “Surajya” actually looks
like in day to day administration, the civil services
have an enormous opportunity today.
He was delivering the inaugural address at
the 2-day event of the 12th Civil Services
Day in New Delhi.
The Vice President said that a clean,
competent, people-friendly, proactive
administrative leadership is the need of the
hour.
Civil Service Day: 21 April
The Civil Service Day is celebrated on 21 April
every year.
The purpose for this day is to rededicate and
recommit themselves to the cause of the
people.
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It is observed by all Civil Services. This day
gives civil servants the opportunity for
introspection and thinking about future
strategies.
Dhvani se Sabd aur Chinh Exhibition
inaugurated at NGMA, Mumbai
An exhibition titled "Dhvani se Sabd aur Chinh” was
inaugurated at National Gallery of Modern Art,
Mumbai.
Curated by Adwaita Gadanayak and his
team, the exhibition speaks to us about
southern sensibilities and singular identities
that were forged through scholarly
adaptations, multiple skills and experiments
that were seeking to juxtapose the notions of
the modern with the traditional.
It identifies 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.
Cabinet approves the restructured Centrally
Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj
Abhiyan
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi
gave its approval for restructured Centrally
Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj
Abhiyan (RGSA).
The Scheme will be implemented during the
period from 01.04.2018 to 31.03.2022 at the
total cost of Rs. 7255.50 crore with the
Central Share of Rs. 4500 crore and that of
State Share of Rs. 2755.50 crore.
This scheme will extend to all States and
UTs of the Country and will also include
institutions of rural local government in non-
Part IX areas, where Panchayats do not exist,
The scheme will have both Central
Component - National Level activities
including "National Plan of Technical
Assistance", "Mission Mode project on e-
Panchayat", "Incentivization of Panchayats"
and State component - Capacity Building of
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
Two-day festival will be organized on 23-24 April
on National Panchayati Raj Divas
The Minister of
Rural Development
and Panchayati Raj,
Shri Narendra Singh
Tomar said in New
Delhi that a two-day
event has been
organized this year on National Panchayati Raj Din.
On April 23, an interactive group discussion
cum workshop will be organized in Jabalpur
in Madhya Pradesh called "Panchayat Ki
Choupal Mein Charcha".
The main topics of this discussion are: GPDP
- Economic Development and Planning in
Panchayat, Social Development and
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG),
Yuva Panchayat - New India, New Thinking,
Rural Transformation through Digital
Panchayats, Clean India Campaign.
It is important that this year is also the 25th
anniversary of the 73rd Constitution
Amendment.
Union Cabinet clears ordinance on death penalty
to child rapists
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In the wake of outrage over the brutal rape and
murder of a minor in Kathua, Jammu & Kashmir, the
Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has approved an ordinance to allow courts to
pronounce the death penalty to those convicted of
raping children up to 12 years of age.
Ordinance approved by the Cabinet also
prescribes the minimum punishment in case
of rape of women to increase from rigorous
imprisonment of 7 years to 10 years,
extendable to life imprisonment.
In case of rape of a girl under 16 years,
minimum punishment has been increased
from 10 years to 20 years, extendable to
imprisonment for rest of life, which means
imprisonment till that person’s natural life.
Suresh Prabhu to Chair First Meeting of Think
Tank on Framework for National Policy on E-
Commerce
Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil
Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, will chair the first meeting
of the think tank on the Framework for National
Policy on E-commerce to be held on April 24th,
2018.
Senior officers of the ministries/ departments
of the Government of India involved in
different aspects of e-commerce; high level
representatives from the industry bodies, e-
commerce companies, telecommunication
companies and IT companies; Reserve Bank
of India; and independent experts have been
invited to participate in the meeting.
The think tank on the Framework for
National Policy on E-commerce has been
established recently by the Department of
Commerce.
It will provide a credible forum for an
inclusive and fact-based dialogue leading to
recommendations for informed policy
making, so that the country is adequately
prepared to take advantage of the
opportunities, and meet the challenges, that
would arise from the next wave of
advancements in digital economy.
AFSPA revoked in Meghalaya
The Centre has revoked The Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act (AFSPA) from Meghalaya since April
1.
Earlier the AFSPA was effective in 20 km
area along the Assam-Meghalaya border.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the impact of AFSPA
was reduced to eight police stations instead
of 16 police stations and in Tirap, Longding
and Changlang districts bordering Assam.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act,
1958 is effective in whole of Nagaland,
Assam, Manipur (excluding seven assembly
constituencies of Imphal) and parts of
Arunachal Pradesh.
National Panchayati Raj Day: 24 April
National Panchayati Raj Day is the national day of
India celebrated by Ministry of Panchayati Raj on 24
April annually.
Then Prime Minister of India Manmohan
Singh inaugurated the first National
Panchayati Raj Day in 2010.
Diu Smart City becomes first to run on 100%
Renewable Energy during Daytime
Diu Smart City has become the first city in India,
that runs on 100% renewable energy during daytime
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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.
It has now adopted a two-pronged approach
whereby a 9 MW solar park spread over 50
hectares rocky barren land has been
developed besides installing solar panels on
the roof tops on 79 government buildings
thereby generating 1.3 MW annually.
To further enhance its solar capacity, Diu
offers its residents a subsidy of Rs 10, 000-
50,000 for installing 1-5KW roof top solar
panels.
Diu is saving about 13,000 tonnes of carbon
emissions every year. Due to low-cost solar
energy, power tariffs have been cut in
residential category by 10% last year and
15% this year.
International SME Convention – 2018 begins in
New Delhi
Delegates from 37 countries are participating in the
first ever International SME Convention being held
in New Delhi from 22nd to 24th April 2018.
Some of the participating countries are
Australia, Austria, France, Indonesia, Italy,
Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria,
Philippines, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sri
Lanka, South Africa and UAE.
The Convention will be also hosting over
400 entrepreneurs from India.
During the 2 days’ Convention a Khadi
fashion show called “Transcending
Boundaries” will be held.
Railways to hand over century-old heritage
bridge to UP government
In a bid to save its heritage structures, the Railways
has decided against dismantling the 113-year old
Lord Curzon Bridge in Allahabad and will hand it
over the Uttar Pradesh government for its
preservation.
The construction of the 61-metre- long Lord
Curzon Bridge that caters to both rail and
vehicular traffic was sanctioned in 1901 as a
state railway bridge.
The engineer-in-charge was Robert Richard
Gales.
It opened for railway traffic on June 15,
1905, and for road traffic on December 20,
1905.
PM launches Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
launched the
Rashtriya
Gram Swaraj
Abhiyan, at a
public meeting,
in Mandla in Madhya Pradesh.
He unveiled a Road Map for overall
development of tribals during the next five
years.
He laid the foundation stone of an LPG
bottling plant of Indian Oil Corporation at
Maneri, Mandla District. He also launched a
Local Government Directory.
The Prime Minister felicitated the
Sarpanches of villages which have achieved
100 percent smokeless kitchens, 100 percent
vaccination under Mission Indradhanush,
and 100 percent electrification under
Saubhagya Scheme.
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Conclusion of Exercise Gaganshakti-2018
The Indian Air Force conducted pan India Exercise
Gagan Shakti-2018 from 08-22 Apr 2018.
The aim of the exercise was real time
coordination, deployment and employment
of air power in a short and intense battle
scenario.
During Gagan Shakti-2018, lAF exercised
its entire war fighting machinery to validate
its concept of operations and war waging
capability.
The focus of the exercise was to check the
viability of our operational plans and learn
meaningful lessons.
Rajnath Singh chairs third meeting of Island
Development Agency
The Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh,
chaired the third meeting of the Island Development
Agency (IDA) In Delhi.
The Island Development Agency reviewed
the progress made towards preparation of
Development Plans for identified Islands
(four in A&N Islands i.e. Smith, Ross, Long,
Avis and five in Lakshadweep i.e. Minicoy,
Bangaram, Thinnakara, Cheriyam, Suheli).
For these Islands, Final Site Suitability
Reports have been prepared, Carrying
Capacity determined and Environmental
zoning carried out to ensure sustainable
development.
2 Day Secure India Conclave underway in New
Delhi
The two-day Secure India Conclave got underway in
New Delhi on 24 April 2018.
The conclave is being organised by Global
Counter Terrorism keeping in view Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's vision of New
India : Secure India 2018.
Several sessions on Left Wing Extremism,
internal security situation on Jammu and
Kashmir, cyber security and other areas will
be chaired by eminent personnel during the
summit.
Foreigners can now travel to Nagaland,
Mizoram, Manipur without a permit
Foreign tourists, except those from Pakistan, China
and Afghanistan, would now be allowed to visit
some of the most pristine locations of the country.
The home ministry has decided to relax the
six-decade-old Protected Area Permit
regime from Nagaland, Mizoram and
Manipur for five years with effect from April
1.
Under the Foreigners (Protected Areas)
Order, 1958, all areas falling between the
Inner line and the International Border of
some states were declared as protected areas.
Human Resource Development Ministry
Launches Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0
Human Resource Development Ministry has
launches Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0 in New Delhi.
Addressing the launching ceremony at
AICTE headquarters through video message,
Minister of Human Resource Development
Shri Prakash Javadekar said that the students
are the real agents of change who can
develop, empower and brighten the future of
the country.
Shri Javadekar said that Unnat Bharat
Abhiyan 2.0 is in line with Prime Minister
Shri Narendra Modi's vision to transform
India, in which students from colleges and
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universities will go to nearby villages to get
acquainted with the life of the village people
and the problems faced by them in day to day
life.
Exercise HARIMAU SHAKTI 2018
As part of ongoing Indo-Malaysian defence
cooperation, a joint training exercise HARIMAU
SHAKTI will be conducted in the dense forests of
Sengai Perdik, Hulu Langat, Malaysia from 30 April
18 to 13 May 18.
The exercise is aimed at bolstering
cooperation & coordination between armed
forces of both the nations and to share the
expertise of both the contingents in conduct
of counter insurgency operations in jungle
terrain.
NITI Aayog announces the launch of Atal New
India Challenges
The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of the NITI
Aayog today announced to launch the Atal New
India Challenges, which came into being following
Prime Minister’s clarion call to bring innovations
and technologies relevant to the people.
Applicants showing capability, intent, and
potential to productize technologies will be
awarded grants up to Rs. One crore.
This grant support will be supplemented by
mentoring, handholding,incubatingand other
support as neededat various stages of
commercialisation. while generatingwider
deployment.
Rajnath Singh chairs 23rd meeting of Western
Zonal Council at Gandhinagar
The 23rd meeting of the Western Zonal Council was
held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat today under the
Chairmanship of the Union Home Minister Shri
Rajnath Singh.
The meeting was attended by the Chief
Ministers of Maharashtra and Gujarat,
Ministers of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and
Administrator of the Union Territories of
Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli,
and senior officers from Central and State
Governments.
The Union Home Minister stated that the
Zonal Councils were established under the
States Reorganisation Act, 1956 with the
objective to develop the habit of cooperative
working among the States and between the
Centre and the States.
The Zonal Councils are mandated to discuss
and make recommendations on any matter of
common interest in the field of economic and
social planning.
Coastal security exercise 'Sagar Kavach' held in
Kerala
A two-day coastal security exercise 'Sagar Kavach'
was held to strengthen and assess the loopholes in
the coastal security mechanism along Kerala shores.
Apart from the Coast Guard, the Navy,
Coastal Police and Marine Enforcement
wing and various other security stakeholders
were also participating in the exercise.
Three ships of the navy, 10 of Coastguard,
four fishing boats, besides 20 coastal police
stations from Vizhinjam to Kasaragod were
among those took part in the drill held twice
a year.
15th World Rural Health Conference held in
New Delhi
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The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah
Naidu inaugurated the 15th World Rural Health
Conference held in New Delhi.
He said that approximately half of the global
population lives in rural areas, but those
areas are served by only 38% of the total
nursing workforce and by less than a quarter
of the total physician workforce.
Its Theme is “Healing the Heart of
Healthcare: Leaving No One Behind”.
Kerala CM launches Pravasi Pension Scheme
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan formally
launched the Pravasi Pension Scheme of the Kerala
Pravasi Welfare Board at a programme.
The programme was organised by the All
India Malayalee Association (AIMA),
Telangana unit.
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.
Israeli Modern Art Exhibition to be inaugurated
in the Capital
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.
The exhibition will be inaugurated on 28th
of April, 2018 at the National Gallery of
Modern Art, New Delhi.
The exhibition is a collection of art creations
of 19 Israeli artists, including the
internationally acclaimed Shahar Marcus
who will perform at the exhibition opening.
Van Dhan Scheme launched by PM
The Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi
launched the Van Dhan Scheme of Ministry of
Tribal Affairs and TRIFED at Bijapur, Chattisgarh.
Emphasizing the important role of value
addition in increasing tribal incomes, he
stated that Van Dhan, Jan Dhan and Gobar-
Dhan Schemes had the potential to change
the tribal-rural economic system.
All these three schemes in tandem need to be
promoted for this purpose by the State
Governments.
The establishment of “Van Dhan Vikas
Kendra” is for providing skill upgradation
and capacity building training.
Andhra Govt holds Cyber Security Summit in
Visakhapatnam
The Andhra Pradesh government and MasterCard,
along with Fintech valley, held the Andhra Pradesh
Cyber Security Summit in Visakhapatnam.
The summit was a part of the MoU between
Andhra Pradesh government and
MasterCard to implement the best practices
for cybersecurity.
Sikkim's Pawan Chamling becomes longest
serving Chief Minister
Sikkim Chief
Minister and
Sikkim Democratic
Front (SDF)
founder Pawan
Kumar Chamling has surpassed the record of former
West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu by becoming
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the longest serving Chief Minister of any Indian
state.
Veteran communist Jyoti Basu ruled West
Bengal for 23 years from June 21, 1977 till
November 6, 2000.
Pawan Kumar Chamling became Chief
Minister of the Himalayan state on
December 12, 1994 and completed his 24th
year in office now.
He founded SDF in 1993 and formed the
state government next year.
Meeting of Inter-Governmental Committee
between India and Nepal
An India-Nepal
Inter Government
Committee (IGC)
on Trade, Transit
and Cooperation to
Control
Unauthorised Trade, led by Commerce Secretaries
of the two Governments, is functioning under the
India-Nepal Treaty of Trade and India-Nepal Treaty
of Transit.
A meeting of the IGC was held on 26-27
April 2018 in Kathmandu, Nepal with the
Indian delegation led by Ms. Rita Teaotia,
Commerce Secretary.
Both countries agreed to initiate, by July
2018,a comprehensive review of the bilateral
Treaty of Trade which governs the bilateral
trade and was last revised in 2009.
First US shale gas reaches India; GAIL's Dabhol
terminal receives cargo
India's first liquefied natural gas cargo from the United
States landed at the Dabhol regasification terminal in
Maharashtra.
Receiving the first-ever shipment of 1.2 lakh
tonne LNG under the long-term contract of 20
years, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan also
announced a Rs 700-crore investment by the
newly-created Gail arm Konkan LNG to
complete an under-construction breakwater
facility, that on completion will make the
terminal an all-weather facility.
Smooth roll out of e-Way Bill system from 1st April,
2018
As per decision of the GST Council, e-Way Bill system
became mandatory from 01stApril, 2018 for all inter-
State movement of goods.
• The implementation of the nationwide e-Way Bill
mechanism under GST regime is being done by GSTN in
association with the National Informatics Centre
(NIC)and is being run on portal namely
https://ewaybillgst.gov.in.
• On day-1, total of 2.59 lakh e-Way Bills were
generated on the e-way bill portal.
• To assist and answer queries of taxpayers and
transporters, the Central helpdesk of GST has made
special arrangements with 100 agents exclusively
dedicated to answer queries related to e-way bills.
• E-way Bill can be generated through various modes
like Web (Online), Android App, SMS, using Bulk
Upload Tool and API based site to site integration etc.
• Consolidated e-way Bill can be generated by
transporters for vehicle carrying multiple consignments.
Jio Payments Bank begins operations
The Reserve Bank has said that Jio Payments Bank has
commences its banking services from April 3.
Reliance Industries Ltd was one of the 11
applicants which were issued in-principle
approval for setting up a payments bank in
August 2015.
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Telecom major Bharti Airtel was the first to
begin payment bank services in November 2016.
MoU between Indian Army and HDFC Bank
A Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) was signed
between the Indian Army and HDFC Bank on the
Defence Salary Package on 03 Apr 2018.
The first MoU between HDFC Bank and the
Indian Army was signed in 2011 and was
renewed on 13 Mar 2015.
The current MoU is tailor made to suit the
requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners and
families.
Currently Indian Army has MoUs on Defence
Salary Package with 11 public and private sector
banks.
RBI drops Axis Bank from list of bullion importers
RBI has dropped Axis Bank from a list of banks it has
cleared to import gold and silver in the current financial
year that began April 1.
Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank and Bank of Nova
Scotia were among the 16 banks allowed to
import bullion.
Two other small banks Karur Vyasa and South
Indian Bank, were also dropped from the RBI
list.
IndusInd Bank gets RBI nod to acquire IL&FS arm
Private sector lender IndusInd Bank said it has received
RBI's approval to buy the securities services arm of
IL&FS.
In March 2017, the bank entered an agreement
with Infrastructure Leasing and Financial
Services, the promoter shareholder of IL&FS
Securities Services Ltd (ISSL), to acquire 100
per cent stake in ISSL.
Doha Bank sets up first branch in Chennai
Qatar-based Doha Bank has set up the first branch in the
Chennai taking the total number of branches in the
country to three, a top official said.
Doha Bank currently has a branch in Mumbai,
Kochi and Chennai, respectively.
The Chennai branch will assist the bank's
growing customer base in India offering a host of
services including corporate, retail, treasury,
trade, finance and foreign exchange services.
India Ratings ups India’s FY19 GDP growth to 7.4%
India Ratings and Research has revised its FY19 GDP
growth forecast to 7.4% from 7.1% earlier.
As per the report, FY19 growth will continue to
be driven by consumption and associated sectors
such as automobiles, cargo handled at major
ports.
IndusInd first bank to use WhatsApp for basic
services
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.
First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2018-19
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released First Bi-
monthly Monetary Policy Statement of 2018-19 on April
5 2018.
Growth rate: 7.4 percent
Inflation target for the first half of current fiscal:
4.7-5.1 percent
Repo rate: 6 percent
Reverse repo rate: 5.75 percent
MSF: 6.25%
Bank Rate: 6.25%
CRR: 4%
SLR:19.5%
ICICI Bank launches social media-based remittance
service for NRIs
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Leading private lender ICICI Bank announced the launch
of a service that enables Non Resident Indians (NRIs) to
send money to a beneficiary in India using social media
platforms like WhatsApp and e-mail.
Christened 'Social Pay', this first-of-its-kind
service is available on Money2India (M2I), the
bank's app for remittances.
This new facility will enable NRIs to send money
conveniently to their friends and family.
Bank of Baroda slapped with Rs 9 crore fine over
remittance scam
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.
The FIU has levied the maximum penalty of Rs
1 lakh, as stipulated under the Prevention of
Money Laundering Act (PMLA), for each
instance of "delayed" filing of Suspicious
Transaction Reports (STRs) by the state-owned
bank in the case.
Agreement Between NPCIL and EDF of France
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL)
and Electricite de France (EDF) of France have signed an
Industrial Way Forward Agreement for implementation
of six nuclear power reactor units at Jaitapur,
Maharashtra with a total capacity of about 10,000 MW.
The Evolutionary Pressurized Reactors (EPRs)
are evolutionary reactors, whose design has
evolved from “KONVOI’ and “N4’ reactors
which have been in operation in Germany and
France respectively for about two decades.
India pips Japan to become second largest crude steel
manufacturer
In a major achievement, India has overtaken Japan to
become the world’s second largest producer of crude
steel in February, according to the Steel Users Federation
of India (SUFI).
At present, China is the largest producer of crude
steel in the world, accounting for more than 50%
of the production.
India overtook the U.S. in 2015 to become the
third largest producer of crude steel.
India and World Bank sign New Project to benefit
Small and Marginal Farmers in Maharashtra
The Government of India, Government of Maharashtra
and the World Bank signed a US$ 420 million project to
help Small and Marginal farmers in the Marathwada and
Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra.
The project will help in increasing climate
resilient practices in agriculture and ensuring that
farming continues to remain a financially viable
activity for them.
RBI to set up Data Sciences Lab
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its release said that
it has decided to set up Data Sciences Lab to
improve its forecasting, surveillance and early
warning detection abilities which will aid policy
formulation.
The lab will constitute of experts and
budding analysts, internal as well as lateral,
who are trained inter alia in Computer
Science, Data Analytics, Statistics,
Economics, Econometrics and/or Finance.
ICICI Bank: Govt changes its nominee on the
Bank Board
The Centre has replaced its nominee on ICICI
Bank’s Board with effect from April 5.
Lok Ranjan, a joint secretary at Department
of Financial Services in the Finance
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Ministry, has replaced Government nominee
Amit Agrawal.
This move comes at a time when this private
sector lender is facing a controversy over
alleged irregularities in grant of Rs 3,250
crore loan to Videocon group.
Federal Bank ties up with Fortune Wealth to
offer PIS services
Federal Bank Ltd has entered into a partnership with
Fortune Wealth Management Company Ltd for
providing Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS)
services to NRIs.
This will enable non-resident Indian clients
to invest in Indian equity markets on
repatriable and non-repatriable basis.
The partnership will also facilitate NRI
investment in India’s vibrant equity markets
through PIS.
Country's foreign exchange reserves hit a life-
time high of $ 424.361 bn
The country's foreign exchange reserves hit a life-
time high of 424.361 billion US dollar after rising by
1.828 billion dollar in the week to March 30, the
Reserve Bank said in Mumbai.
RBI switches back to GDP scale to measure
economy
The Reserve Bank 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
government had started analysing growth estimates
using GVA methodology from January 2015 and
had also changed the base year to 2018 from
January.
Deputy Governor Viral Acharya said that the
switch to GDP is mainly to conform to
international standards.
11 public sector banks placed under RBI’s PCA
Framework
At present, 11 weak PSBs out of the 21 State-owned
banks are under the PCA, which kicks in when banks
breach regulatory norms on issues such as minimum
capital, amount of non-performing assets and return
on assets.
The 11 banks already under the NPA
framework are IDBI Bank, Bank of India,
UCO Bank, Central Bank of India, Indian
Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of
Commerce, Dena Bank, Bank of
Maharashtra, United Bank of India,
Corporation Bank and Allahabad Bank.
India Signs MOU With World EXPO 2020 Dubai
India and World Expo 2020 signed participants
contract for India’s pavilion in the prestigious World
Expo 2020 held once in 5 years.
The contract provides for the setting up of
India pavilion at Expo 2020 on an extra large
plot (about one acre) in the ‘Opportunity’
segment. This is tune with the great
opportunity for economic activity that India
provides today on the way to becoming a $5
trillion economy by 2025.
Focus will be given to India’s advances in
Space, Pharma, IT, Renewable Energy,
Telecom sectors.
Yes Bank forms tie-up with Euronet India
Payment and transaction processing solutions
provider, Euronet India, said it has partnered with
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Yes Bank to modernise the bank’s core payment
infrastructure.
Euronet will support the bank in switching
transactions between end points, driving
payment channels and card management
services, among others.
Indian Consortium and Saudi Aramco Sign MoU
for Ratnagiri Mega Refinery
An Indian Consortium consisting of IOCL, BPCL
and HPCL and Saudi Aramco signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly
develop and build an integrated refinery and
petrochemicals complex, Ratnagiri Refinery &
Petrochemicals Ltd. (RRPCL) in the State of
Maharashtra.
Saudi Aramco may also seek to include a
strategic partner to co-invest in the project.
The strategic partnership brings together
crude supply, resources, technologies,
experience and expertise of these multiple oil
companies with an established commercial
presence around the world.
The refinery will be capable of processing
1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day (60
million metric tonnes per annum, or
MMTPA).
AIIB decides to invest $140M to improve Rural
Connectivity in India
Approximately 1.5 Million rural residents in State of
Madhya Pradesh are going to directly benefit from
improved livelihoods, education and mobility with
the USD $ 140-Million loan approved by the Board
of Directors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB) in a Meeting held recently in Beijing.
The Project, co-financed with the World
Bank, aims to improve the rural road
connectivity and management for residents
of about 5,640 villages who use the rural
roads for daily activities.
NHAI signs agreement for its First International
Project
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 agreement was signed by NHAI with
M/s Punj Lloyd Ltd. – Varaha Infra Ltd.
(JV).
The project has been funded by Ministry of
External Affairs, Government of India and
would be executed on EPC mode at a cost of
Rs.1177 crores.
AAI to develop Myanmar's Kalay Airport
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.
AAI had developed more than 60 airports in
metro and non-metro cities in India and now
AAI wants to leverage its expertise to other
countries on bigger scale.
RBI slaps Rs.3 Cr monetary penalty on IDBI
bank
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed monetary
penalty worth Rs. 3 crore on IDBI Bank for not
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complying with the outlined norms related to
reporting of bad loans.
The penalty was imposed on account of non-
compliance with the directions issued on
Income Recognition and Asset
Classification (IRAC) norms.
MoU Between Indian Army and Axis Bank
A Memorandum of
Undersanding (MoU)
was signed between
the Indian Army and
Axis Bank on the
Defence Salary Package on 13 Apr 2018.
The first MoU between Axis Bank and the
Indian Army was signed in 2011 and was
renewed on 24 Mar 2015.
The current MoU is tailor-made to suit the
requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners
and families.
Recently, Indian Army has also signed a
MoU with HDFC bank.
NPCIL, NSDC partner to spur Centre's Skill
India mission
Aiming to contribute towards economic and
sustainable development of communities, the
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India
Limited (NPCIL) to provide skill training to 500
youth and women at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu.
The skill development project will be
executed by NSDC through its approved
training partners near Kudankulam Nuclear
Power Project (KKNPP),
It is the single largest nuclear power station
in India, situated in the Tirunelveli district of
the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
India Signs Loan agreement with World Bank
for usd 48 million for Meghalaya
A Loan Agreement for IBRD loan of USD 48
million for the “Meghalaya Community - Led
Landscapes Management Project (MCLLMP)” was
signed with the World Bank.
The Objective of the Project is to strengthen
community-led landscapes management in
selected landscapes in the State of
Meghalaya.
The Project consists of three components:
Strengthening Knowledge and Capacity for
Natural Resource Management;
Community-led landscape planning and
implementation and Project Management
and Governance.
World Bank forecasts 7.3 pc growth for India this
year
The World Bank has forecasted a growth rate of 7.3
per cent for India this year and 7.5 per cent for 2019
and 2020.
It has also noted that the country's economy
has recovered from the effects of
demonetisation and the Goods and Services
Tax.
Kotak Mahindra becomes second-most-valued
bank
Uday Kotak-led Kotak Mahindra Bank has pipped
SBI to become India’s second-most-valued lender
after HDFC Bank in terms of market capitalisation.
Kotak Mahindra Bank is now also among the
top 10 most-valued companies on the BSE.
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Kotak Mahindra Bank now has a market
capitalisation of 2,22,970.4 crore rupees.
HDFC Bank remained the country’s most-
valuable bank with a market capitalisation of
5.04 lakh crore rupees.
IMF forecasts India growth at 7.4 per cent for
FY19
India’s economic
growth will accelerate
in the current and next
fiscal years, the
International Monetary
Fund (IMF) said in its latest forecast.
India’s economy is forecast to grow 7.4% in
the current fiscal from 6.7% in FY18 and
accelerate further in FY20 to 7.8%, shows
the IMF’s latest forecast.
Nabard approves Rs 14,690 cr funding to
Rajasthan
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD) has extended total credit
support of Rs 14,690 crore to Rajasthan for 2017-18.
Rajasthan has been one of the biggest
beneficiaries under the Rural Infrastructure
Development Fund (RIDF) of NABARD,
under which NABARD disbursed
concessional loan of Rs 1,851.29 crore to the
state government during 2017-18.
Among major infrastructure projects, bank
sanctioned 10 irrigation projects,
construction of 1614 roads and two rural
drinking water supply projects.
SBI India's most trusted bank
The TRA Brand Trust Report 2018 said the State
Bank of India was the most trusted bank (both public
and private sector) in the country.
ICICI Bank topped the chart among the
private ones.
51 brands from the Banking and Financial
Services Institutions sector got listed among
the 1,000 most trusted brands in the country
this year.
World Bank: 19-crore Indian adults don’t have
bank account
India has 19 crore adults without a bank account
despite the success of the ambitious Jan Dhan
Yojana, making it the world’s second largest
unbanked population after that of China, the World
Bank said.
Besides, almost half of the bank accounts
remained inactive in the past year, the
multilateral financial institution said in a
report, even as it lauded the Government’s
financial inclusion scheme, the Jan Dhan
Yojana, for bringing in additional 31 crore
Indians into formal banking system by
March 2018.
It also said the country’s adult population
with a bank account has more than doubled
to 80 per cent since 2011.
The Jan Dhan Yojana was launched by the
Modi government in 2014.
India is world’s sixth largest economy
India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) clocked in at
$2.6 trillion for 2017, according to the database of
the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic
Outlook (WEO) for April 2018.
India is now the world’s sixth largest
economy, displacing France.
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The five economies ahead are the United
States, China, Japan, Germany and United
Kingdom.
Standard Chartered ties up with Zoho
Standard Chartered
Bank has announced
an alliance with
Zoho, a software
products company, to offer solutions to enhance
corporate banking experience.
The bank’s business account holders can
now pay their suppliers and automate
reconciliation right from Zoho Books,
Zoho’s cloud accounting software.
SJVN signs MoU with Ministry of Power
SJVN Limited, the operator of one of the largest
Hydro Power Plants in the country i.e. 1500 MW
Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station, signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
Ministry of Power, Govt. of India for the year 2018-
19.
As per the targets set in the MOU, SJVN
shall strive to achieve 9200 Million Units
generation during the year under ‘Excellent’
category.
Further, SJVN will have Capital Expenditure
(CAPEX) target of Rs. 900 crore and
Turnover target of Rs. 2175 crore under
Excellent category along with other targets
related to operational efficiency and Project
monitoring.
TCS first Indian company with $100 billion
market cap
Tata Consultancy Services has touched $100 billion
mark in market capitalisation as its share price
surged nearly 7%.
The IT major is the first listed Indian
company to achieve this milestone.
TCS is the leading the chart as the most
valued firm followed by Reliance Industries
Ltd, HDFC Bank, ITC and HUL in the top-
five list.
IOB inks information utility pact with NeSL
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), one of the leading
public sector banks, entered into an agreement for
information utility services with the National E-
Governance Services Limited (NeSL).
The NeSL became India's first information
utility (IU) for bankruptcy cases under the
'Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)
2016' in October 2017.
With this agreement, the IOB branches will
be able to provide high-quality,
authenticated information about debts and
defaults.
In hunt for MD and CEO, Axis Bank appoints
global leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder
Private sector lender Axis Bank said it has appointed
global leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder to
appoint a new Managing Director and CEO for the
bank.
The move follows Shikha Sharma, the
current Managing Director and CEO of the
bank, deciding to step down from the post
after December 31 this year.
Axis Bank had on April 9 announced that
Sharma had decided to cut short her fourth
term and leave at the end of the year.
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YES Bank gets RBI nod to open 2 global
representative offices
Private sector lender
YES Bank has got
approval from the
Reserve Bank of
India to open two
international
representative offices.
The new offices will come up in London and
Singapore as part of the bank’s international
expansion to provide services to the NRI
(non resident Indian) population, the bank
said in a statement.
As part of its international expansion, YES
Bank had opened its first overseas office in
Abu Dhabi in 2015 followed by the debut of
IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) at GIFT City,
Gandhinagar in the same year.
India highest recipient of remittances in 2017
India retained the top position as recipient of
remittances with its diaspora sending about USD 69
billion back home last year, the World Bank said.
Remittances to India picked up sharply by
9.9 per cent, reversing the previous year's
dip, but were still short of USD 70.4 billion
received in 2014.
India was followed by China the Philippines,
Mexico, Nigeria and Egypt.
BoI ties up with NeSL
Bank of India has entered into an agreement with
National e-Governance Services Ltd (NeSL) for
availing NeSL’s Information Utility (IU) service to
expedite the Corporate Insolvency Resolution
Process.
This is in compliance with the the provisions
of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
2016.
MD&CEO of Bank of India, Dinabandhu
Mohapatra, said the operationalisation of
IUs will mark a new era in Indian banking
and the IU infrastructure will strengthen
lenders.
India and World Bank Signs Agreement to
Improve Rural Road Network in MP
The Government of India, the Government of
Madhya Pradesh and the World Bank have signed a
$210 million loan agreement for the Madhya
Pradesh Rural Connectivity Project.
The Project is expected to improve the
durability, resilience and safety of the gravel
surfaced rural roads and enhance the
capacity of the state to manage its rural roads
network.
The Project will cover 10,510 km stretch of
rural roads in Madhya Pradesh that fall under
the Chief Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana
(CMGSY) program.
Of this 10,000 km will be upgraded from
existing gravel to bituminous surface roads,
while 510 km of new roads will be built to
the same bituminous surface standard.
PNB to hire detective agencies to locate
untraceable borrowers
Fraud-hit Punjab National Bank (PNB) has invited
applications for empanelment of detective agencies
to locate its untraceable borrowers.
In its efforts to recover NPAs, the PNB has
also resorted to 'Gandhigiri' wherein its staff
hope to 'name and shame' defaulting
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borrowers to recover up to Rs 150 crore
worth bad loans every month.
The Delhi-headquartered bank has been at
the receiving end of the over Rs 13,000 crore
fraud involving diamond merchants Nirav
Modi and Mehul Choksi.
India signs loan agreement with World Bank for
US$ 125 million
A Loan Agreement for IBRD credit of US$ 125
(equivalent) for the “Innovate in India for
Inclusiveness Project” was signed with the World
Bank on 24th April, 2018 in New Delhi.
The Objectives of the project is to nurture
indigenous innovation, foster local product
development and accelerate
commercialization process by
bridging critical skill and infrastructure gaps
to promote affordable and innovative
healthcare products generation for inclusive
development and increasing competitiveness
in India.
The project would support consortia of
public, private, and the academic institutions
to overcome the key market
failures currently holding back the
development of an innovative
biopharmaceutical and medical devices
industry in India.
Govt to acquire RBI’s stake in National Housing
Bank
The government will soon acquire the stake of
Reserve Bank of India in housing finance regulator
National Housing Bank (NHB).
The stake transfer would be cash neutral and
there would be no cash outgo. RBI currently
holds 100 per cent stake in the NHB.
The Finance Bill 2018 has amended the
National Housing Bank Act, 1987, for
transferring RBI’s stake in the NHB to the
government.
Google most trusted Internet brand in India:
Report
Online search engine Google is the most trusted
Internet brand in India, followed by Facebook, a
report said.
With 1.2 trillion searches per year, Google
has become the first port of call for all things
on the Internet.
According to the report, e-commerce major
Amazon ranked third among the most trusted
Internet brands in the country and e-Bay
ranked fourth.
India’s GDP to grow 7.3% in FY19: Fitch
India’s economy will grow 7.3% in the current
financial year and gain pace to 7.5% next year as the
“temporary drag” from demonetisation and the
goods and services tax fades away, Fitch Ratings
forecast.
The rating company reaffirmed India’s
‘BBB-’ rating with a stable outlook as it
pointed to India’s growth potential and
lauded the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary
management.
Fitch said GST is an important reform that
would support growth in the medium term
when teething issues dissipate.
Dalmia Bharat Group adopts Red Fort
Dalmia Group has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with the ministry of tourism
to adopt the iconic Mughal-era monument Red Fort
for the next five years at a cost of Rs 25 crore.
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As per the agreement, the corporate giant
would build basic infrastructure around the
monument and maintain it.
Debjani Ghosh assumes charge as Nasscom President
Nasscom said that former
Intel executive Debjani
Ghosh has taken over as
the President of the IT
industry association.
• She succeeds R
Chandrashekhar, who is
leaving office upon the
completion of his term.
• Ghosh takes office at a time when the Indian IT-BPM
industry is playing a leading role in digital transformation
of various industries across countries.
M L Srivastava appointed protem chairman of Lalit
Kala Akademi
M L Srivastava, Joint Secretary (Akademies) at the
culture ministry has been appointed as the protem
chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi.
He will continue to hold the office till a regular
chairman is appointed.
On the recommendation of the Minister of
Culture, the President has appointed M L
Srivastava.
Himanta Biswa Sarma Elected BAI President
Assam Health and Education Minister Himanta Biswa
Sarma was unanimously elected the Badminton
Association of India (BAI) President during its annual
general body meeting in Goa.
Ajay Kumar Singhania was elected the Secretary
General while former Tamil Nadu Badminton
Association president and former Union minister
Anbumani Ramadoss was elected treasurer.
Sarma had taken over as the interim BAI
President last year after the demise of Akhilesh
Das Gupta. He will serve for four years.
High Powered Committee to examine the system of
conducting Class X and Class XII exam
The Ministry of Human Resource Development has
constituted a High Powered Committee to examine the
entire system of conducting Class X and Class XII
examination conducted by the CBSE with a view to
prevent leakages.
Shri Vinay Sheel Oberoi, Retd. Secretary
(Higher Education), MHRD will be the
Chairperson of the 7 member High Power
Committee.
The other members of the committee include
Shri Pavnesh Kumar, Prof. J.S. Rajput, Prof.
Vasudha Kamat, Prof. Krishna Mohan
Tripathy, Senior representative of DG,
NIC and Joint Secretary (SE-II)
The High-Powered Committee will submit its
report by on or before 31.05.2018.
SBI Life gets new MD & CEO
SBI Life Insurance has appointed Sanjeev Nautiyal as its
new Managing Director and CEO.
He replaces Arijit Basu, who takes over a key
role in the State Bank of India Group.
Nautiyal started his career with State Bank of
India in 1985 as a probationary officer in the
bank’s Lucknow Circle.
UN body names Messi responsible tourism
ambassador
The UN World Tourism Organization said it has
appointed FC Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel
Messi as an ambassador to promote responsible
tourism.
The UN body defines “responsible tourism”
as tourism that “helps maximise the sector's
benefits while minimising its potentially
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negative impact on the environment, cultural
heritage and societies across the globe”
World Tourism Organization chief: Zurab
Pololikashvili
Wipro's Rishad Premji appointed Nasscom
chairman
Rishad Premji, Board member of Wipro Ltd. has
been appointed as the Chairman of the National
Association of Software and Services Companies
(NASSCOM) for 2018-19.
Premji has been a member of NASSCOM’s
Executive Council and was the Vice
Chairman for the previous year.
He succeeds Raman Roy, who served as
Chairman of NASSCOM for the year 2017-
18.
HRD Ministry is setting up a committee to reduce
the fear of math
Human Resource Development Ministry has
constituted the committee under the Chairmanship
of Gujarat Education Minister Shri Bhupendra sinh
Chudasama to suggest the ways to make the maths
subject easy.
This was announced by the Human Resource
Development Minister Shri Prakash
Javadekar after the Annual Meeting of
National Council of Educational Research
and Training- NCERT at New Delhi.
While briefing the media persons, Shri
Javadekar said that this decision was taken
on the basis of National Assessment Survey
to eliminate the fear of maths among the
students.
He further said that eminent educationists
and senior officials will be the part of this
committee.
Bhanu Pratap Sharma appointed chairman of
Bank Board Bureau
The government has appointed former DoPT
Secretary Bhanu Pratap Sharma as Chairman of the
Banks Board Bureau (BBB).
He replaces Vinod Rai, who was appointed
as the first chairman of BBB for a two year
term.
Sharma has been appointed for two years.
Jayant Sinha to head Task Force for UAV
technology
The Government
has decided to
constitute a Task
Force under the
chairmanship of
Shri Jayant
Sinha, 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 Task Force will consist of
representatives from the Government, PSUs,
industry and sectoral experts and submit
report within 6 months of its constitution.
The Headquarters of the Task Force will be
at Ministry of Civil Aviation, New Delhi.
Rajesh Ranjan takes charge as CISF chief
Rajesh Ranjan, a 1984 batch Bihar cadre IPS officer,
took charge as director general of Central Industrial
Security Force (CISF), which secures airports, Delhi
Metro, sensitive government buildings.
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With 34 years of experience, Ranjan has held
key posts including in CBI, as assistant
director in the Financial and High Tech
Crime Sub Directorate at the Interpol
General Secretariat.
Arun Jaitley takes oath as Rajya Sabha member
for new term
Making a public appearance in weeks, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley took oath as a Rajya Sabha
member for a new six-year term.
Mr. Jaitley was administered the oath of
office in the Rajya Sabha Chairperson M.
Venkaiah Naidu’s chambers.
He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from
Uttar Pradesh last month.
Lt Gen PP Malhotra takes over as DG NCC
Lieutenant General PP Malhotra assumed charge as
Director General of National Cadet Corps (NCC),
the largest uniformed youth organization in the
world.
Lt Gen Malhotra’s distinguished
professional career includes various
regimental, staff and command
appointments.
Prior to assuming his present appointment,
he was the Chief Engineer of the Army’s
premier Northern Command.
Miguel Diaz-Canel named Cuba's new president
Miguel Díaz-Canel was officially named as the new
leader of Cuba, one day after a secret vote in the
country's National Assembly.
It's the first time in nearly six decades that
Cuba is being led by a man not named
Castro.
Díaz-Canel, 57, was selected by a vote of
603-1 as the unopposed candidate to replace
Raul Castro, 86.
Points to Remember
Cuba is a country located in the northern
Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf
of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean meet.
Havana is the capital of Cuba.
Peso is the currency of Cuba.
Prince Charles to be next head of Commonwealth
Commonwealth
leaders have
formally
announced that
Prince Charles
will become the
next head of the organisation after the Queen.
The role is not hereditary, but the Queen
used the Commonwealth heads of
government gathering in London to say it
was her “sincere wish” to be succeeded by
her son.
Points to Remember
The Commonwealth is an intergovernmental
organisation of 53 member states that are
mostly former territories of the British
Empire.
Patricia Scotland is the Secretary General of
the Commonwealth.
Mario Abdo Benitez elected as Paraguay's
president
Conservative candidate Mario Abdo Benitez of
Paraguay's ruling Colorado Party narrowly defeated
his opposition in the country's presidential elections.
The group has dominated the country's
political landscape for more than 70 years.
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Benitez vowed to focus on Paraguay's
persistent poverty by stimulating foreign
investment.
Indu Malhotra first woman lawyer to be
Supreme Court judge
The government is learnt to have cleared the
appointment of senior advocate Indu Malhotra as a
judge of the Supreme Court.
She will be the first woman to be appointed
to the top post directly from the bar.
With this development, the government has
decided to put on hold the elevation of
Justice K M Joseph, who heads the
Uttarakhand High Court.
Rahul Bhatia named interim CEO of Indigo
Aditya Ghosh has
resigned as the
President and whole-
time director of IndiGo
and will leave the
company by July 31, 2018.
While Interglobe Chairman Rahul Bhatia has
been appointed as the interim CEO of the
company, Greg Taylor will be appointed as
president and CEO of the company.
Gauri Sheoran made brand ambassador for
Haryana's health programmes
The Haryana government has appointed
international shooter Gauri Sheoran the brand
ambassador for its two health-related programmes.
The decision was announced by Chief
Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at the launch
of the measles-rubella (MR) vaccination
campaign.
Under the campaign, about 80 lakh children
aged between nine months and 15 would be
vaccinated.
Narinder Chauhan appointed Ambassador of
India to the Czech Republic
Ms. Narinder Chauhan (IFS: 1985) has been
appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the
Czech Republic.
She is expected to take up the assignment
shortly. Presently she is Ambassador of India
to the Republic of Serbia.
Krishan Kumar appointed as the Ambassador of
India to the Kingdom of Norway
Shri Krishan Kumar (IFS: 1984) has been appointed
as the next Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of
Norway.
He is expected to take up the assignment
shortly. She is presently Ambassador of
India to the Czech Republic.
Rajiv Kumar Nagpal appointed Ambassador of
India to Venezuela
Shri Rajiv Kumar Nagpal has been appointed as the
next Ambassador of India to the Bolivarian Republic
of Venezuela.
He is expected to take up the assignment
shortly. He is presently Ambassador of India
to Iceland.
Kavinder Gupta to be new Jammu and
Kashmir deputy CM
BJP has decided to replace its Deputy Chief Minister
Dr Nirmal Singh in the restive Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative
Assembly Kavinder Gupta is going to be the
new deputy chief minister.
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Gupta, a senior BJP leader who represents
Gandhi Nagar Assembly constituency of the
winter capital city of Jammu, will be sworn
in on April, 30.
Dhoni, Advani to be conferred with Padma awards
Cricketer Mahendra
Singh Dhoni and
billiards champion
Pankaj Advani are
among the 41
prominent
personalities who will be conferred with the prestigious
Padma awards of 2018 by President Ram Nath Kovind in
New Delhi today.
As many as 84 Padma awards were announced
this year.
The Padma awards list comprises three Padma
Vibhushan, nine Padma Bhushan and 72 Padma
Shri awards.
Mangaluru Airport Adjudged India’s Cleanest
The Mangalore International Airport has been adjudged
the cleanest airport in the country.
• Airport director VV Rao received the award during
the 23rd annual day celebrations of the Airports
Authority of India (AAI) in New Delhi.
• In the survey conducted across 53 airports in the
country by AAI, Mangaluru airport was adjudged the
cleanest.
Anand Kirti from Colombo will get Ambedkar
Award
Prof. Bhante Anand Kirti from Colombo, Sri Lanka
will get Dr. Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar
International Award.
Indian Dalit Literature has announced the
news on the eve of Ambedkar's 127th birth
anniversary.
University of Calania Prof. Kirti will receive
the award on 9-10 December.
65th National Film Awards for 2017 announced
The 65th National Film Awards 2017 were
announced by the Chairpersons of the juries on
Feature Films, Best Writing on Cinema and
members of Dadasaheb Phalke Award and Non-
Feature films.
Veteran Hindi film actor Shri Vinod Khanna
was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award
for his contribution to Indian Cinema.
Some of the other prominent winners in
various categories for this year National Film
Awards included Assamese movie ‘Village
Rockstars’ in Best Feature Film category and
‘Baahubali - The Conclusion’ in the Best
Popular Film providing Wholesome
Entertainment category.
Indira Gandhi Award For Best Debut Film
Of A Director was given to the Jasari
language movie ‘Sinjar’ directed by
Pampally.
Marathi Movie ‘Dhappa’ was awarded the
Nargis Dutt Award For Best Feature Film On
National Integration.
Jayaraj was awarded the Best Direction in
the Feature Film category for the movie
‘Bhayanakam’ and Nagraj Manjule won the
award for the Best Direction in the Non
Feature Film Category.
Riddhi Sen and Sridevi got the award for the
Best Actor (movie- Nagarkirtan) and Best
Actress award (movie- Mom) respectively .
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Malayalam Movie ‘Aaalorukkam’, directed
by V.C.Abhilash was awarded the Best Film
on Social Issues.
‘Water Baby’ directed by Pia Shah, won the
Best Debut Film of a Director in the Non
Feature Film category.
Movies in the languages other than those
specified in the VIII Schedule of the
constitution in the feature Film categories
were also awarded.
The award for the Best Jasari Film was given
to ‘Sinjar’, Best Tulu Film to ‘Paddayi’ and
the Best Ladakhi Film to ‘Walking With The
Wind’.
Best Film Critic award was given to Giridhar
Jha for his writings covering vast horizon of
Hindi cinema with authenticity and
originality.
Special Mention Award was given to the
Sunil Mishra for his articles on cinema.
Best Book on Cinema award was given to
‘Matmagi Manipur-The first Manipuri
Feature Film’ authored by Bobby
Wahengbam.
Special Jury Award in the Feature category
was given to the movie ‘Nagarkirtan’
directed by Kaushik Ganguly and produced
by Sani Ghose Ray.
Special Jury Award in the Non-Feature
category was given to ‘A Very Old Man with
Enormous Wings And Monday’, directed by
Prateek Vats and produced by Films
Division.
The best Children’s film was given to the
Marathi Movie Mhorkya, directed by Amar
Bharat Deokar.
A.R Rahman was awarded the Best Music
Direction award for the movie ‘Kaatru
Veliyidai’.
Dharmendra to receive Raj Kapoor Lifetime
Achievement award
Veteran actor
Dharmendra and
filmmaker
Rajkumar Hirani
will be conferred
with the
prestigious Raj Kapoor Lifetime Achievement and
Raj Kapoor Special Contribution awards,
respectively, Maharashtra culture minister Vinod
Tawde announced.
Veteran Marathi actor Vijay Chavhan will
receive the V Shantaram Lifetime
Achievement award.
Actor-director Mrinal Kulkarni has been
named for V Shantaram Special
Contribution awards.
Bhuj Mercantile Coop Bank bags Banco Award
Kutch-based Bhuj Mercantile
Cooperative Bank has bagged
the prestigious Banco Award
for best performing
cooperative bank.
The bank was
adjudged best among
the 1500 cooperative
banks from across the country.
Banco Award given anually to the top
performing cooperative banks recognise and
encourage best practices in the cooperative
banking sector.
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2018 Pulitzer Prize winners for journalism
Pulitzer prize for public service: jointly
awarded to The New York Times, and The
New Yorker.
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
Aditi Rao Hydari to receive Dadasaheb Phalke
Excellence Award
Aditi Rao Hydari added another trophy to her
achievements as she will receive Dadasaheb Phalke
Excellence Award 2018 for the Best Leading Lady
(Critics Award) for her memorable performance in
Bhoomi.
The award ceremony is scheduled on April
21, 2018, at St. Andrews Auditorium in
Mumbai.
The film also starred Sanjay Dutt
Madhya Pradesh conferred Most Film Friendly
Award
The Most Film Friendly State Award was
announced by the Chairman of the Jury, Shri
Ramesh Sippy.
State of Madhya Pradesh was conferred the
award for the Most Film Friendly State for
its efforts towards easing filming in the State
by creating a well-structured web site, film
friendly infrastructure, offering incentives,
maintaining databases, undertaking
marketing and promotional initiatives,
unanimously by the Jury from among the 16
States that participated.
State of Uttarakhand is given a Special
Mention Certificate to recognize the efforts
made by the State of Uttarakhand towards
creating a film friendly environment.
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Rakesh Roshan to get lifetime achievement
honour
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.
The awards ceremony will take place on
April 29 at Chitrakoot Ground.
Rakesh Roshan has produced and directed
movies like Kaho Na Pyar hai, Koi Mil
Gaya, Krish and Kaabil.
PM Modi awarded Manipur’s Karang – India’s
first cashless island
Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured
bureaucrats for making Manipur’s Karang the first
cashless island of the country, and implementing the
Goods and Services Tax (GST) and other priority
initiatives of the Centre.
Modi awarded civil servants for smooth
implementation of four priority programmes
— Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana,
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban and
Rural), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen
Kaushalya Yojana, and for promoting digital
payments.
Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra and Madhya
Pradesh’s Neemuch were awarded for the
implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana (Gramin).
Puducherry and the Greater Hyderabad
Municipal Corporation, Telangana, got the
PM’s award for implementation of the
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).
West Tripura and Maharashtra’s Beed were
awarded for the implementation of the
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
Bengal’s Digambarpur is India’s best Gram
Panchayat
West Bengal’s Digambarpur Gram Panchayat has
bagged the Centre’s award for the best Gram
Panchayat in the country.
A survey was conducted to find out the best
Gram Panchayat in the country and in a letter
to the state government the Ministry of
Panchayati Raj has stated that Digambarpur
has come up as the best out of 2.5 lakh Gram
Panchayats in the country.
Egyptian photojournalist wins 2018 World Press
Freedom Prize
Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid,
known as Shawkan, is the recipient of the 2018
UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom
Prize.
Abu Zeid, a freelance photographer who has
worked for photo agencies such as Demotix
and Corbis, is one of the longest-detained
journalists in Egypt.
He was arrested on August 14, 2013, when
hundreds were killed as security forces
cleared two pro-Morsi protest camps in
Cairo.
CSIR bags National Intellectual Property (IP)
Award 2018
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR) is awarded the National Intellectual Property
(IP) Award 2018 in the category “Top R&D
Institution / Organization for Patents and
Commercialization”.
Dr. Girish Sahni, DG, CSIR and Secretary,
DSIR received the award at the hands of Mr.
Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Minister,
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Commerce and Industry, Government of
India.
The Council of Scientific & Industrial
Research (CSIR) is a contemporary R&D
organization.
Amjad Ali Khan, Anupam Kher get Master
Deenanath Mangeshkar Award
Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, veteran playback
singer Asha Bhosle and veteran actor Anupam Kher
were among the prominent personalities who were
conferred the 'Master Deenanath Mangeshkar
Smruti Pratishthan Awards' on the occasion of his
76th death anniversary .
Bhosle was conferred the award for life
achievements, while Anupam was
acknowledged by a Special Award
honouring his contributions to cinema and
theatre.
Sitanshu Yashaschandra’s "Vakhar" chosen for
Saraswati Samman
Eminent Gujarati poet Sitanshu Yashaschandra’s
poetry collection "Vakhar" has been chosen for the
Saraswati Samman for 2017, the K K Birla
Foundation has announced.
The selection for the 27th award is made by
a high level Chayan Parishad (selection
committee), presided over by former
secretary general of Lok Sabha, Subhash C
Kashyap.
Instituted in 1991, the prestigious award
recognises an "outstanding" literary work
every year written in any Indian language
and published during the last 10 years.
Born in 1941 in Bhuj, Yashaschandra is one
of the most eminent representatives of
contemporary Gujarati literature.
BCCI to honour Diana Edulji with CK Nayudu
Lifetime Achievement Award
A three-man BCCI panel has recommended former
India women's team captain and current CoA
member, Diana Edulji, for the prestigious CK
Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.
Along with Edulji, former India opener late
Pankaj Roy will also be awarded
posthumously.
Diana Edulji is a member of Supreme Court
appointed BCCI committee of
Administrators.
Budgam shortlisted for PM Modi's excellence
award
Jammu and
Kashmir's Budgam
district has been
shortlisted for
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's
excellence award for promoting digital payments
and cashless economy.
Under the supervision of District authorities,
digital payments facility has been installed at
670 places across the district so far.
The places include 372 ration shops, 285
fertilizer shops and 13 Revenue (Tehsil)
offices across Budgam.
Mithali Raj adjudged 'Sportsperson of the Year'
Indian women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj was
adjudged 'Sportsperson of the Year' while ace shuttlers
Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu bagged the best senior
male and female athletes at the Telangana Sports
Journalists Association annual awards for 2017.
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Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman presented
'best coach of the year' award to Gopichand, who
received this award for second time in a row, an
Association release said.
Triple Olympian and former national hockey
player N Mukesh Kumar was honoured with the
Lifetime Achievement award at the event.
Jr World Cup: Muskan Bhanwala wins 25m pistol
gold; India bag fourth individual gold
The final competition day at the ISSF Junior World Cup
in Sydney opened with another gold awarded to the
Indian National Team, as Muskan Bhanwala secured the
gold medal in the 25m Pistol Women Junior event.
Bhanwala — who placed 4th at last year’s ISSF
Junior World Championship in Suh, Germany —
took the lead at the end of the sixth round, when
she nailed a perfect 5-hit series and found herself
sitting on a 3-point advantage over her closest
rival, People’s Republic of China’s Qin Sihang
(16).
Kerala lifts their sixth Santosh Trophy
Kerala have lifted their sixth Santosh Trophy Football
title. In a thrilling final at the Salt Lake Stadium in
Kolkata, they held their nerves to beat defending
champions and 32-time winners Bengal via penalty
shootout.
Kerala had beaten Punjab 3-2 with an extra time
goal to win their earlier Santosh Trophy title in
New Delhi in October 2004.
Miami Open: John Isner beats Alexander Zverev to
win first Masters 1,000 title
American John Isner won his first ever Masters 1,000
title with a 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-4 victory over German
Alexander Zverev in the Miami Open final.
US Open champion Sloane Stephens beat
Latvian Jelena Ostapenko to win her first Miami
Open title.
It was the 34th edition of the Miami Open.
All men and women's events took place at the
Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne,
Florida, United States, from March 19 through
April 1, 2018
21st Commonwealth Games to begin today
The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as
the XXI Commonwealth Games and commonly known
as Gold Coast 2018, is an international multi-sport event
for members of the Commonwealth that will be held on
the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, between 4 and 15
April 2018.
It will be the fifth time Australia has hosted the
Commonwealth Games.
A total of 275 events will be held in 19 sports.
Opening ceremony will be held in Carrara
Stadium.
The official motto for the 2018 Commonwealth
Games is "Share the Dream".
Borobi was named as the mascot of the 2018
Commonwealth Games.
India win South East Asian Women Handball C'ship
India defeated
Bangladesh by 27-10 in a
one-sided match to win
the fifth South East
Asian Women Handball
Championship at K.D.
Singh Babu Stadium in
Lucknow.
A total of five countries participated in the
tournament.
While Nepal finished as runner-ups in the five-
country tournament, Bangladesh settled for the
third spot and a bronze medal.
Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu Wins India’s First Gold
at CWG 2018
World champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu (48kg)
secured India's first gold medal at the 2018
Commonwealth Games.
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The Indian ended with a score of 196kg
(86kg+110kg).
Earlier, Weightlifter Gururaja bagged India's
first medal (silver) in the 2018 Commonwealth
Games with a total lift of 249 kg in the men's 56
kg event
Leander Paes becomes most successful player in
Davis Cup
India’s Leander Paes created a new world record by
becoming the most successful doubles player in
Davis Cup history, winning his 43rd such match.
Paes and Bopanna beat China's Mao-Xin
Gong & Di Wu to create history
Paes was tied on 42 wins with Italian great
Nicola Pietrangeli for a long time.
CWG 2018: Deepak Lather becomes India’s
youngest weightlifting medallist
Deepak Lather became India’s youngest weightlifter
to win a Commonwealth Games medal after he won
the bronze medal in men’s 69kg weight category at
CWG 2018 in Gold Coast.
Hailing from Haryana, the 18-year-old lifted
a total of 295kg (136kg+159kg) to finish
third.
Deepak had won the bronze medal in the
Commonwealth Championships in Gold
Coast last year.
CWG 2018: India's women's TT team clinches
maiden Gold
Singles star Manika Batra won two matches
as India's women's table tennis team upset
favourites Singapore to clinch its maiden
Gold medal at the 21st Commonwealth
Games at Gold Coast on Sunday.
Kidambi Srikanth World No 1, first Indian to
reach top spot in men’s badminton
Kidambi Srikanth has scaled the peak of the men’s
BWF men’s singles rankings for the first time.
The 25-year-old shuttler’s prolific form in
2017, during which he won a record four
Super Series titles, has helped him reach
76895 rating points, the best ever by an
Indian male badminton player.
He replaced Denmark's Viktor Axelsen to
achieve the numero-uno spot in the latest
BWF World Rankings.
CWG2018: Anish Bhanwala becomes India’s
youngest gold medallist
Karnal’s 15 years
old Anish
Bhanwala created
history by
becoming the
youngest ever
gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games (CWG)
for India.
The 15-year-old bagged the top prize in the
men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event in Gold
Coast, Australia.
Concluding ceremony of Commonwealth Games
held at Gold Coast
The concluding ceremony of the Commonwealth
Games held in Gold Coast Australia, on 15 April
2018.
More than 4500 athletes from 71 nations
competed for 275 Commonwealth gold
medals over the course of the Games.
Australia remained on the top of Medal table
with 198 medals followed by England with
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136 and India got third position with 66
medals.
Australia won 80 Golds, 59 Silver and 59
Bronze medals.
England achieved 45 Golds, 45 Silver and 46
Bronze medals.
India secured 26 Golds, 20 Silver and 20
Bronze medals.
Saina first Indian shuttler to win two singles gold
in Commonwealth Games
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal defeated
compatriot PV Sindhu 21-18, 23-21 in women's
singles final to clinch a gold medal in women’s
badminton singles final at the 21st Commonwealth
Games.
Saina, who already had a singles gold medal
in Commonwealth Games to her name, thus
also became the first Indian shuttler to have
won two singles gold medals in badminton
in Commonwealth Games.
Saina had previously won a gold medal in
2010 Commonwealth Games which were
hosted by India.
Rafael Nadal beats Kei Nishikori to win Monte
Carlo Masters
Rafael Nadal won a record 31st Masters title after
beating Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-2 in the Monte Carlo
Masters final.
Nadal also became the first man in the Open
era to win the Monte Carlo title 11 times and
moved one ahead of rival Novak Djokovic
for career Masters titles.
It gave him a 76th title overall and ensured
the Spaniard keeps his top ranking ahead of
Roger Federer.
India win 8th South Asian Judo Championship
India have clinched the title of team champion in the
8th series of South Asian Judo Championship in
Kathmandu.
In the men's team category, India defeated
arch-rivals Pakistan 3-2 in the finals to claim
the title.
Under the women's team category, India
thrashed hosts Nepal 5-0 to seal the title.
India ended their campaign in the
tournament with a total of 12 Gold medals
and three Bronze medals.
2021 Champions Trophy to be held in India
The International
Cricket Council
(ICC) has decided to
convert the 2021
Champions Trophy
into a World T20
event scheduled in India.
Earlier it was an eight-team ODI tournament.
ICC Chief Executive Dave Richardson said
the global body had “unanimously agreed”
that the 2021 meet in India would now be a
16-team event in the shortest format.
Rafael Nadal wins 11th Barcelona Open title
Rafael Nadal continued his clay-court dominance by
collecting a record-extending 11th title in Barcelona.
His 6-2 6-1 victory over Greek teenager
Stefanos Tsitsipas enabled the Spaniard to
hold onto his world No 1 ranking.
This is his 19th successive win on clay and
he has now won 46 consecutive sets on the
red dirt.
Lewis Hamilton wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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Lewis Hamilton was handed victory in Azerbaijan
Grand Prix during which both Red Bulls
sensationally collided with each other.
A puncture denied Valtteri Bottas his first
win of the season. Raikkonen finished
second while Perez finished third in the race.
Noted artist Ram Kumar passes away
Senior artist Ram Kumar
has passed away. He was
94.
A modernist, he
was associated
with the
Progressive
Artists’ Group comprising M.F.Husain,
F.N.Souza, H.A.Gade, S.H.Raza and others.
He was known for his abstract landscapes.
Film director C.V. Rajendran passes away
Tamil film director C.V. Rajendran, who was
part of late C.V. Sridhar’s unit and directed a few
memorable films like Kalatta Kalyanam,
Sumathi En Sundari and Raja starring Sivaji
Ganesan and Jayalalithaa and Ponoonjal, died
aged 81.
Veteran journalist S Nihal Singh no more
Veteran journalist S Nihal Singh breathed his last at
the National Heart Institute following illness. He
was 88.
He was the founding editor of The Indian
Post in 1987.
He was awarded the prestigious International
Editor of the Year Award in New York for
opposing the Emergency imposed by former
prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Bhimsain Khurana Passes Away
Indian animation pioneer and multiple National
Award winner Bhimsain Khurana is dead. He was
82.
Considered as India's animation pioneer and
avant-garde filmmaker, Bhimsain is one of
the pioneers of parallel cinema movement in
India of the 70s.
He was known path-breaking feature films
"Gharaonda" (1977) & "Dooriyaan" (1979)
and many TV series.
Former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajinder
Sachar passes away
Human rights activist and former Chief Justice of the
Delhi High Court Justice Rajinder Sachar (94)
passed away at a New Delhi hospital.
Justice (retd.) Sachar was the Chief Justice
from August 6, 1985, to December 22, 1985.
After his retirement, he was associated with
rights group People’s Union for Civil
Liberties (PUCL).
World's oldest person Nabi Tajima passes away
at 117
The world's oldest person, a 117-year-old Japanese
woman, has died. Nabi Tajima died of old age in a
hospital in southern Japan.
Tajima, born on 4 August, 1900, was the last
known person born in the 19th century.
She became the world's oldest person seven
months ago after the death of Violet Brown
in Jamaica, also at the age of 117.
TV actor Amita Udgata passes away
TV actor Amita Udgata breathed her last due to lung
failure. The veteran actor has many popular TV
shows to her credit.
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Amita Udgata became a household name
after playing the role of ‘Amma’ in Star Plus’
popular social drama Mann Ki Awaaz
Pratigya.
Amita was also seen in films like Sarbjit and
Hasee Toh Phasee.
President receives copy of special issue of ‘Think
India’ journal on Deen Dayal Upadhyay
The President of
India, Shri Ram
Nath Kovind,
received a copy of a
special issue of the
‘Think India’ journal, devoted to the late philosopher-
politician Deendayal Upadhyay, at Rashtrapati Bhavan
today.
• The copy was given to the President by Dr Murli
Manohar Joshi, MP, in the presence of Shri D P Tripathi,
MP, and editor of the special issue.
• Among others Dr Shashi Tharoor, MP, and Shri
Pawan Verma, former MP, were also present.
VP Releases Books ‘Sarvapriya Atalji’,
‘Jannayak Atalji’ and ‘Atal Jeevan Gatha’
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah
Naidu has said that democracy is the ideal system of
governance and Shri Atal ji has succeeded in
preserving it.
He was addressing the gathering after
releasing the Books on former Prime
Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
‘Sarvapriya Atalji’, ‘Jannayak Atalji’ and
‘Atal Jeevan Gatha’.
The Minister of State for Parliamentary
Affairs and Statistics & Programme
Implementation, Shri Vijay Goel and other
dignitaries were present on the occasion.
President Receives first copy of book ‘Dr
Babasaheb Ambedkar: Vyakti Nahin Sankalp’
The President of
India, Shri Ram
Nath Kovind,
received the first
copy of the book
‘Dr Babasaheb
Ambedkar: Vyakti
Nahin Sankalp’ from the Vice President of India,
Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, who formally released it at
a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan to mark Dr
B.R. Ambedkar’s birth anniversary.
Speaker, Lok Sabha, Smt Sumitra Mahajan,
Union Minister of Social Justice and
Empowerment, Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot,
and the editor of the book, Shri Kishor
Makwana, were also present.
VP Releases a Book titled 'Bhavdiye'
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah
Naidu has advised the youth to protect preserve and
celebrate Indian culture and traditions and youth that
are both present and future of this country can
achieve their life's goals with hard work and
dedication.
He was addressing the gathering after
releasing a Book titled 'Bhavdiye' based on
Compilation of Letters written by Shri Kedar
Nath Sahani.
The Vice President said that Shri Kedar Nath
Sahani was a writer, freedom fighter, social
reformer and an icon who inspired others all
over his life.
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The second session of NAI’s Book reading series
-“Archives Reads”
The Second Book reading session of 'Archives
Reads' was organised by NAI with Author & Prof
Deepak Kumar, former Professor, JNU reading from
his latest publication “Trishanku Nation – Memory,
Self and Society in Contemporary India".
Speaking on the occasion, Director General,
National Archives of India (NAI), Shri
Pritam Singh, said that the rich archives
available with NAI is a treat for students,
researchers, historians and authors.
He said this book reading series would help
inculcate archival awareness among the
masses, to bring prominent historians closer
to the young readers.
President receives the first copy of book “Adi
Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s greatest thinker”
The President
of India, Shri
Ram Nath
Kovind,
received the
first copy of
the book “Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s Greatest
Thinker”, from the author Shri Pavan Varma, at
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
Among the dignitaries present were Dr Murli
Manohar Joshi and Shri D P Tripathi.
President said the imprint of Adi
Shankaracharya, who was born over 1,200
years ago in Kerala, is still apparent in
contemporary India and in fact in all parts of
our country.
Nitish Kumar Launches 3 Books On Mahatma
Gandhi's Champaran Movement
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar released three
books based on Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran
movement of 1917.
Nitish Kumar released the books titled-
'Mister M K Gandhi Ki Champaran Diary'
written by Arvind Mohan, 'Champaran
Andolan 1917' edited by Ashutosh
Partheshwar and 'Pir Muhammad Munis:
Kalam Ka Satyagrahi' collected and edited
by Srikant.
The Champaran movement is acknowledged
as the first Satyagraha movement inspired by
Mahatma Gandhi.
Vice President Releases the Book ‘Smart Cities
Unbundled’
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah
Naidu has said that the Smart Cities Mission is the
beginning of India’s urban renaissance.
He was addressing the gathering after
releasing the Book ‘Smart Cities Unbundled’
authored by Dr. Sameer Sharma.
The Minister of State for Housing and Urban
Affairs (I/C), Shri Hardeep Singh Puri and
other dignitaries were present on the
occasion.
Former PM Manmohan Singh launches
economist Rao’s book
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released a
book titled ‘My Journey from Marxism-Leninism to
Nehruvian Socialism’.
The Book is authored by former Planning
Commission and Finance Commission
member C H Hanumantha Rao.
While launching the book, Singh called Rao
a most creative thinker, social activist, and
distinguished economist.
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