Affairs Cloud April 2019

Current Affairs Pocket PDF
Current Affairs Pocket PDF – APRIL 2019
AffairsCloud Recommends Oliveboard Mock Test
RBI Grade B 2019: Live Class + Practice
SBI Clerk 2019: Live Class + Practice
SBI PO 2019: Take 30 Tests, 1 Free
Railways RRB JE 2019: Take 15 Tests, 1 Free
SSC CGL: 50 Tests (30 Tier I + 20 Tier II)
INDIAN AFFAIRS
Cabinet Approvals
Cabinet Approvals On April 15, 2019
• On 15th April 2019, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given
its approval on various proposals and schemes. The details of the cabinet approvals are stated
as under:
 Cabinet approves creation of a single post of Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General in
the office of Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
 Cabinet approves the Continuation of Phase 4 of (GSLV) Geosynchronous Satellite
Launch Vehicle.
 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved extension of duration of New
Urea Policy-2015 (from 1st of April, 2019) for existing gas-based urea unit.Read full
detail of approvals here.
Cabinet approved the funds for implementing 10% EWS Quota
• Recently, Rs. 4315.15 crores budget has been approved by Union Cabinet headed by PM
Narendra Modi, to create over 2 lakhs additional seats in 158 central education institutions.
This step is taken in the backdrop of the 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act, which provides
10 percent reservations to Economic Weaker Sections (EWS) in government jobs and
educational institutions.
STATE WISE NATIONAL NEWS
Andhra Pradesh
SC Collegium recommends Justice Vikram Nath as First Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh HC
• Allahabad High Court judge, Justice Vikram Nath appointed as the first Chief Justice of new
Andhra Pradesh High Court at Amaravati by the collegium of Supreme Court containing Chief
Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and justice S A Bobde and justice N V Ramana.
An autobiography of noted social worker Sankurathri Chandrasekhar, named ‘Ashakiranam,’
released
• ‘Ashakiranam’ (A Ray of Hope), an autobiography of noted social worker Sankurathri
Chandrasekhar, was released by Religious scholar Chaganti Koteswara Rao. The autobiography
was translated into Telugu by Godavarthi Satyamurthy and reviewed by the writer and literary
critic Vadrevu Veeralakshmi Devi.
1|Page
Follow Us - FB.com/AffairsCloudOfficialPage Copyright 2018 @ AffairsCloud.Com
Assam
Rongali Bihu festival celebrated in Assam
• Assam’s most awaited festival – the Rongali Bihu, also known as ‘Bohaag Bihu’ which marks the
beginning of the new Assamese calendar year started. In Assam, three Bihu festivals are
celebrated in a year called as Rongali Bihu or Bohag Bihu, Bhugali (Magh Bihu) and Kangali
(Kati Bihu) for marking the distinctive phase in the farming calendar.
Chandigarh
Sahitya Akademi honours Veteran authors from Chandigarh
• The Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi (CSA) honoured veteran authors from Chandigarh at Punjab
Kala Bhawan by presenting them a citation, a shawl and a cash prize of Rs 51,000 each. Five
writers, Dr Chaman Ahuja (Urdu), Dr Om Prakash Vasishta (Punjabi),Professor Tejwant Singh
Gill (English), Dr Prasoon Prasad (Hindi) and Professor Virender Kumar Alankar (Sanskrit)
were given the award of recognition for their lifelong contribution in the field of literature.
Gujarat
Former Chief Secretary of Gujarat H K Khan passed away
• Veteran IAS officer and former Chief Secretary of Gujarat H K Khan passed away. He served as
an IAS officer in the Gujarat cadre for nearly three decades and was the Chief Secretary of
Gujarat from 1990 to 1992.
Haryana
Haryana CEO Rajeev Ranjan inaugurates Voter Park in Gurugram
• Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Rajeev Ranjan inaugurated India’s first-of-its-kind ‘Voter Park’
in Vikas Sadan building complex, Gurugram, to raise voter awareness by instructing people
about the electoral process. At the park, voters will gain information about the polling process
and the archives of elections in the country.
Himachal Pradesh
In 2016, UNESCO declared this festival as “cultural heritage of humanity”.
On 15th April, 2019: the 72nd Himachal Day celebrated in Himachal Pradesh to commemorate
the creation of Himachal Pradesh. After the independence from British rule in 1947, Himachal
Pradesh was created as a province on 15 April 1948 and was declared as union territory then
on 25th January 1971, it became the 18th state of India.
Jammu and Kashmir

Indian Army Constructs The Longest Suspension Bridge ‘Maitri’ Over River Indus In Leh-
Ladakh in just 40 days
• The Indian Army has achieved a record-breaking feat by constructing ‘Maitri’, the 260-feet
longest suspension bridge over the Indus river in the Leh-Ladakh region in just 40 days. The
combat engineers belonging to ‘Sahas aur Yogyata’ regiment of ‘Fire and Fury Corps’ of the
Indian Army undertook the construction of ‘Maitri’.
Former Miss India runner up Sana Dua has been designated as the brand ambassador for
elections in J&K
• Femina Miss India 2017 runner up Sana Dua has been appointed as the brand ambassador of
Jammu and Kashmir election department for general polls. She is an advocate and an
enthusiastic social activist.
"Sahulat", a mobile app launched to facilitate elder voters in Jammu
• An Android-based application named "Sahulat" was launched to facilitate and to encourage the
elder voters for participating in the elections in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district. The app
has been developed by the district unit of the National Informatics Centre.
2|Page
Karnataka
Kannada writer B. A. Sanadi passed away aged 86
• The awardee of Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award, Kannada poet Dr. B A Sanadi passed away
at the age of 86 years at his residence near Herevatta region of Kumta Taluka. He was born on
18th August 1933 at Shindalli village of Belagavi district.
Kerala
Senior Dubbing Artist C R Anandavally passed away at the age of 65
• C R Anandavally, an eminent Dubbing artist of Malayalam films who let her voice to several
heroines passed away due to her prolonged illness at a private hospital
in Thiruvananthapuram on 5th April, 2019. She was born in Kollam, Kerala.
Writer, Orator and Former Kerala Additional Chief Secretary D BabuPaul Passes Away
• Former additional chief secretary and writer Dr.Daniel Babu Paul,77, has passed away at a
hospital in Thiruvananthapuram due to a heart ailment. He was the author of the first
Malayalam Bible Dictionary ‘Veda SabdaRathnakaran’.In 2001,he published the autobiography
‘Katha Ithuvare’.
Madhya Pradesh
MHA (the Union Ministry of Home Affairs) gives approval for renaming ‘Durjanpur’ in MP as
‘Shivdham’
• The Central Government has given its approval for the proposal of the Madhya Pradesh State
Government, to change the name of a village in Madhya Pradesh from ‘Durjanpur‘ to
‘Shivdham’. Durjanpur is situated in Katni District of Madhya Pradesh.
Maharastra
Justice Pradeep Nandrajog sworn in as Chief justice of Bombay High Court
• Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, Justice Pradeep Nandrajog was sworn in as the Chief
Justice of Bombay high Court. He will succeed Justice Naresh Patel, who retires from his
services.
India’s First Foreign Interactive Bird Park launched by EsselWorld in Mumbai
• India’s first exotic Bird Park ‘EsselWorld Bird Park’ was launched by EsselWorld Leisure Pvt.
Ltd., the family entertainment arm of the $6-billion Essel Group in Mumbai. The Park is spread
over 1.4 acres of land and surrounded by flora and fauna, which is home to over 500 exotic
birds.
Meghalaya
Meghalaya Cabinet approved for the creation of Directorate of Dairy Development
• The Meghalaya Cabinet approved the proposal for the creation of a new Directorate of Dairy
Development to boost the milk production. The state government had launched the Meghalaya
Milk Mission and sanctioned Rs 215 crore through the National Cooperative Development
Corporation.
Nagaland
Around 5000 Konyak women dance to set a Guinness World Record at Mon, Nagaland
• In the programme organized at Mon (Nagaland) during the Aoleang Monyu festival (usually
held between 1st April to 3rd April every year) around 5000 Konyak Naga women in their
traditional attire attempted to set a Guinness World Record for the ‘Largest Traditional Konyak
Dance’. The theme of the Aoleang Monyu festival aka Mini Hornbill festival was Empowering
women for cultural heritage.‘
3|Page
On 4th April 2019 Nagaland observed 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Kohima
• The Nagaland government with representatives from the UK and Japan on 4th April, 2019
observed the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Kohima. The theme of their speech was
'Remembrance, Reconciliation and Rebirth'. The Battle of Kohima often referred to as
the "Stalingrad of the East" was fought in three stages from 3rd April 1944 to 22nd June 1944
during the Second World War.
New Delhi
High-level discussions on “Fiscal Relations across levels of Government” by 15th Finance
Commission held in New Delhi
• High-level discussion on “Fiscal Relations across levels of Government” was held by 15th
Finance Commission under the chairmanship of Shri N. K. Singh in New Delhi. This discussion
was organized in partnership with the World Bank, OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development), and ADB (Asian Development Bank).
To spread peace and brotherhood, a music and poetry festival titled ‘Jashn-e-Ittihaad’ was held
in New Delhi
• A music and poetry festival titled ‘Jashn-e-Ittihaad’ was held at the Jamia Milia Islamia central
university in New Delhi to spread awareness about unity amongst the youth. The festival was
organized by Delhi-based entertainment company Question Associates Pvt Ltd.
Shah Rukh Khan's 'Fauji' Director, Colonel Raj Kapoor, Passes Away
• The Actor-cum-Director, Colonel Raj Kapoor,87, has passed away at a Hospital in Delhi due to
age-related issues. He directed Shah Rukh Khan's television debut, Fauji. He published a novel
"When Shiva Smiles"a few years ago. He also had written an essay in Samar Khan's book titled
"SRK - 25 Years of a Life".
Odisha
Eminent dramatist and theatre organiser Kartik Chandra Rath passed away at the age of 70 in
Odisha
• Kartik Chandra Rath,a veteran dramatist, theatre organiser and Economics teacher passed
away at the age of 70 in Cuttack,Odisha due to heart attack. He was born in 1949 in Odisha.
Tamil Nadu
"Chennai Central" has been renamed as "Puratchi Thalaivar Dr M G Ramachandran Chennai
Central" after Dr. MG Ramachandran
• Chennai Central railway station has been renamed by the Tamil Nadu State Government as
Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MG Ramachandran Central Railway Station after it's late Chief Minister
and founder of Chennai's ruling govt, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK),
Dr. MG Ramachandran. He was posthumously honoured with Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian
award, by the Government of India in 1988.
Eminent Tamil scholar and orator Silamboli Su. Chellappan passed away at the age of 91 in
Thiruvanmiyur, Tamil Nadu
• Veteran Tamil Scholar and orator Silamboli Su. Chellappan passed away at the age of 91 in
Thiruvanmiyur, Tamil Nadu. He was the founder-director of World Tamil Research Centre. He
was given the title as Silamboli by the Tamil scholar R.P.Sethupillai.
Actor and former MP of Ramanathapuram: JK Ritheesh passed away due to cardiac arrest
• 46 years old JK Ritheesh, actor and former MP of Ramanathapuram passed away due to cardiac
arrest. He was born in Kandy, Sri Lanka, after which in 1976, Ritheesh migrated to
Rameswaram. Until before his demise, JK Ritheesh was with AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam) party.
4|Page
To ensure good menstrual health, Project Kannamma initiated by Rotary Club of Madras North
• Project Kannamma is an initiative by Rotary Club of Madras North to provide biodegradable
sanitary napkins under the brand name, "Aavaram" to the girl students in government schools
of Tamil Nadu. The Irula Tribal Women’s Welfare Society (ITWWS) provided sanitary napkins
to the students by using Arunachalam Muruganantham machines.
S Muthiah, Master chronicler of Madras, dies aged 89
• Renowned Journalist-writer Subbiah Muthiah passed away at the age of 89 in Chennai due to
age-related illnesses. He was born in 1930 in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu and
attended school in Colombo.
Ace paddler Sharath Kamal wins sportsperson of year award 2019
• A Sharath Kamal, Ace table tennis player was titled Sportsperson of the Year Award 2019 at
the annual awards and scholarships function organised by the Tamil Nadu Sports Journalists'
Association (TNSJA) and the India Cements in Chennai. NSJA Lifetime Achievement awardees:
Vijay Amritraj (Indian tennis player), V V Kumar ( former India leg-spinner), R
Gnanasekaran(Asian Games gold medallist (200m).
Telangana
Telangana secured top spot in eLearning Training for Field Staff
• Telangana has secured the first rank for the second year in a row in the e-Learning training
programme of Department of Personal and Training (DoPT), Government of India. The
training is being imparted to 20, 000 field staff in different districts of Telangana by Dr MCR
HRD Institute to achieve the goal of “training for all”.
The M3 version of EVMs to be used in Nizamabad Lok Sabha and Likely To Enter Guinness Book
with Record EVMs
• The Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana may enter in the Guinness World Records
for the maximum number of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) of M3 version used in the
polling booth. Total of 12 EVMs in each polling station was linked to one control unit in each of
the 1,778 polling centers.
Tripura
Senior Tripura BJP leader Dilip Sarkar passed away
• Dilip Sarkar, Senior Tripura Bhartiya Janta Party leader and five-time MLA, passed away on 1st
April, 2019, at a private hospital in Delhi after prolonged acute liver illness. He was 61. He
hailed from Tripura.
Ex-Deputy Poll Commissioner selected as Special Observer for Tripura
• Former deputy election commissioner Vinod Zutshi has been appointed as special observer for
Tripura. The Election Commission (EC) had postponed polling in the Tripura (East) Lok Sabha
seat to the third phase on 23rd April from 18th April, due to law and order situation.
WestBengal
T B N Radhakrishnan to be new Chief Justice of Calcutta
• Justice Thottathil Bhaskaran Nair Radhakrishnan sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of Calcutta
High Court. He was transferred from Telangana high court to Calcutta High court. He succeeded
Biswanath Somadde.
West Bengal celebrated Bengali New Year on 15th April
• On 15th April 2019, Bengali New Year also known as Pahela Baishakh was celebrated in West
Bengal and among Bengali communities in Assam, Tripura and also in Bangladesh. The 7th
century King Shashanka of ancient Bengal started this Bengali era which was estimated to be in
594 AD in Gregorian calendar and it was later modified by Mughal emperor Akbar for the
purpose of tax collection.
5|Page
ECI appointed Bihar Ex CEO AjayV Nayak as Special Observer for West Bengal
• Ajay V Nayak, The Election Commission has appointed Ajay V Nayak, ex-Bihar chief electoral
officer, as the Special Observer for West Bengal. Earlier, The Election Commission of India has
named Vivek Dubey, 1981 batch IPS officer, as the Special Police Observer of West Bengal.
Calcutta Sports Journalists’ club annual awards 2019
• Jhulan Goswami,former captain of India national women's cricket team, awarded the
"Sportsperson of the Year" honor at the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ club annual awards
function 2019 held at Kolkata, West Bengal while Sukumar Samajpati, former India winger and
Sambaran Banerjee, former national selector and Bengal’s Ranji Trophy winning captain
honoured ‘Lifetime Achievement’ awards.
Other Important National Affairs

85% of Ujjwala beneficiaries still use solid fuels for Cooking
• According to a new survey conducted by the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics,
85% of the Ujjwala beneficiaries in rural Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan
still use solid fuels for cooking. Out of 85% of the surveyed households, 53% exclusively used
the chulha, while 32% used both.
Election Commission invokes Article 324 to defer PM Modi biopic
• Election Commission invokes Article 324 to defer PM Modi biopic. India’s Electoral
Commission has issued an order to ban display of any biopic or publicity material during
Manual Code of Conduct, which could sub serve the purposes of any political entity or any
individual entity connected to it.
PCI urges media to do objective reporting on polls
• PCI (Press Council of India) has issued some guidelines for media to do objective reporting on
election polls and warned it against the practice of paid news. As per the guidelines,
newspapers are not expected to indulge in unhealthy election campaigns, reports about
candidate or party during the election period.
India joins hands with Japan and UAE to set up two projects in Africa
• India joined hands with Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to implement two projects
in Africa. India will build a cancer hospital in Kenya in collaboration with Japan and will to set
up an information and communications technology (ICT) center in Ethiopia in partnership with
the UAE.
Ministry Of External Affairs Sets Up Indo-Pacific Wing
• Recently making a strategic move, India has set up an Indo-Pacific division in Ministry of
External Affairs (MEA). This division is the brainchild of current foreign secretary Vijay
Gokhale. This new division is intended to give a coherent architecture to the policy, which was
articulated by the PM Modi at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2018. Currently, this division will be
headed by join secretary Vikram Doraiswami, for whom it will be an additional charge apart
from Bangladesh and Myanmar. Read full detail here.
LOC Trade between J&K and POJK has been suspended after MHA orders
• Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an order to suspend the LOC (Line of Control) trade
between Jammu & Kashmir and Pakistan occupied Jammu & Kashmir (POJK). The reason for
the suspension is due to an increase in terror funding, drug trade and fake currencies among
other illegal activities by misusing trade routes,one located at Salamabad, Uri, district
Baramulla and the second one located at Chakkan-da-Bagh, district Poonch.
Union Territories and Twenty states join pan-India Single Emergency helpline Number ‘112’
• To get immediate assistance to the people who are in trouble, Union territories and Twenty
states have joined in a pan-India network of single emergency helpline number ‘112’,which is
implemented by central government’s Nirbhaya Fund( 2012 Delhi gangrape case).
6|Page
Visual aids for disabled CBSE students from 2020

• The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) students will be allowed to use magnifying
glasses and portable video magnifiers during the Class X final examination from 2020. The
board has directed all its affiliated schools to ensure that premises are disabled friendly by
2020.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) launched Malaria Elimination Research
Alliance (MERA)
• The ‘Malaria Elimination Research Alliance (MERA) India is a conglomeration of partners
working on malaria control in order to eliminate the disease from India by 2030. The National
Vector Borne Diseases Control Program (NVBDCP) of India has developed a comprehensive
framework to achieve the target of “Malaria free India by 2030”.
Union Ministry of Home Affairs distributed special kits ‘ SAECKs ‘ to states and union
territories to collect evidence on sexual assault cases
• The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has distributed around 3,120 special kits among states and
union territories. The kits are termed ‘SAECKs‘ (The Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits)
and are also called ‘rape investigation kits’ that help to collect blood and semen samples for
carrying out immediate effective medico-legal investigations on sexual assault cases.
NITI Aayog , UNICEF signed a LOI for children Empowerment
• Recently, United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) India and NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation
Mission (AIM) has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to provide an open platform to promote
participation, skill and empowerment among young children across different communities. The
plan will be implemented through Atal Tinkering Lab which established under Atal Innovation
Mission.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Japan has unveiled its New Imperial Era name called "Reiwa"
• Following the 1400 years old tradition, Japan’s government has unveiled an era name, “Reiwa,”
or “pursuing harmony,” for soon-to-be Emperor Naruhito. The names change occurs when a
new emperor takes the throne. The new era to begin on May 1, will succeed the "Heisei" era
(1989-2019) of Emperor Akihito.
London becomes first city to implement 24×7 pollution charge zone
• London became the first city in the world to implement a Ultra Low Emission Zone for 24×7
hours a week, inside which vehicles will have to meet tough emissions standards. This zone
aims to reduce toxic air pollution and protect public health.
Google’s Wing launches its first Commercial drone delivery service in Australia
• Alphabet, Google’s parent company, launched its first commercial drone service through its
Wing subsidiary in Canberra, Australia after the country’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority
(CASA), granted it regulatory approval.The drones will deliver coffee, food, and over-the-
counter medicines directly to clients’ homes using a connected smartphone app.
British Government’s ‘white paper’ named ‘online harms’ draws focus to users’ (mostly
children’s) safety
• The British government has published an “online harms white paper” which is open for public
consultation (till July) focuses to make online social media platforms responsible to safeguard
users, especially children. It is a joint proposal from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media
and Sport (DCMS) and Home Office.
WHO Has Released New Guidelines On 10 Ways To Use Digital Health Technology To Boost
People’s Health
• The guidelines were based on a 2-year-long research study by WHO on digital technologies
which was inclusive of consultations with global experts. Digital health technology helps to
7|Page
address issues related to distance and access which otherwise poses as hindrance for
conventional methods. Read full details here
India’s Haj Quota increased to 2 lakh by Saudi Arabia
• India’s Haj Quota has been increased by about 25,000, raising the number to 2 lakh from 1.75
lakh by Saudi Arabia. This will help the huge number of pilgrim of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal,
Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar to embark pilgrimage this year.
Amartya Sen Chairs at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) for research
on inequality
• To honor the Indian Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, the London School of Economics and Political
Science (LSE) has created the Amartya Sen Chair in Inequality Studies. He was a Professor of
Economics at LSE from 1971-82.
Indonesia releases Ramayana stamp
• Indonesia released a special stamp on the theme of Ramayana to mark the 70th anniversary of
the establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Indonesia. Indonesian sculptor
Padmashri Bapak NyomanNuart designed the stamp.
India to be Guest of Honour country at 29th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair
• The 29th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF) started and will conclude
on 30th April at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. India has been nominated as the
“Guest of Honour” country which reflects the strong relations between the leadership and the
people of the UAE and India.
Iran in collaboration with Pakistan have agreed to set up joint border ‘Reaction Force’ to fight
terrorism
• Iranian President Hassan Rohani and visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan have
agreed for setting up a joint border ‘Reaction Force‘ to combat the attacks by militant groups
on both sides their frontier. The Iran-Pakistan border encompasses the south-eastern Iranian
province of Sistan-Baluchestan (the second largest province of Iran with its capital Zahedan)
where frequent attacks on Iran’s security forces have taken place.
Kazakhstan, under the chairmanship of its Prime Minister Askar Mamin sets up coordinating
council to attract investments
• Kazakhstan under the chairmanship of its Prime Minister, Askar Mamin has set up
Coordinating Council for attracting foreign investments inclusive of investments from India.
The meeting chose the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) as a Unified Centre for the
coordination of work on investment and promotion (Regional Investment Hub).
UAE based Etihad Airways becomes first major airline to operate plastic-free flight
• Recently, Etihad Airways, UAE based flag carrier, has become the first major airline in the gulf
region to operate a flight without any single-use plastics on board. The objective is to raise
awareness about pollution on Earth Day. The flight named EY484, first flight without use of
plastics landed in Brisbane, Australia on April 22, Earth Day.
WHO issued Guidelines on Use of Screen for kids under 5
• With an aim to develop healthy youths, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued
recommendations on the use of sedentary screen under 5-year-old. The recommendations
suggest that infants less than one-year-old should not be exposed to electronic screens at all
and Children under 5 year should not be allowed more than one hour of “sedentary screen
time” per day.
UN adopted resolution on Sexual-Violence condemning rape as a weapon of war
• The German-sponsored resolution 2467 (2019), on sexual violence, was adopted by United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) condemning rape as a weapon of war after 13 out of 15
members have voted in favour of the resolution while Russia and China abstain from voting.
Qatar’s to abolish Exit Visa system by 2019: UN
• UN’s International Labour Organization announced that Qatar is set to abolish its exit visa
system for all foreign workers by the end of 2019. The country was committed to labour
8|Page
reform following an Amnesty international report that the 2022 World Cup host was failing to
stop widespread labour abuse.
The BCIM Corridor Linking India And Myanmar Is No Longer Under The BRI Coverage
Framework
• The report titled, ‘The Belt and Road Initiative Progress, Contributions and Prospects’ released
by the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative had previously listed the BCIM
as a BRI project. But, owing to the fact that India had skipped the Belt and Road Forum (BRF),
the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor ran the possibility to be
excluded from the list of projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) umbrella. Click here
to read the detailed article
VISITS
Foreign Visits
Ram Nath Kovind’s 3-Day Visit To Bolivia
• President Ram Nath Kovind was on a visit of Bolivia from 28th to 30th March, 2019.This is the
first visit by an Indian President to Bolivia.
 Ram Nath Kovind adressed the Bolivia-India Business Forum
 India offered US $100 Million to Bolivia for Financial development
 India and Bolivia sign 8 MoUs in Various Fields
 India leverages its way to Bolivian Lithium Reserves
 Bolivia joins International Solar Alliance
 India, Bolivia call for Finalisation of CCIT
 President Ram Nath Kovind conferred with Highest State Honour of Bolivia
 President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the plaque of Mahatma Gandhi Hall
 President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind presented Punjab’s Phulkari embroidery to
President of Bolivia, Evo Morales Ayma during his second leg of visit to Bolivia.
Overview Of President Ram Nath Kovind Visit To Croatia
• President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind visited Croatia as the part of his 3-nation visit.He
became the first President to visit Croatia and Bolivia.
 India and Croatia signed 4 pacts in Culture, Tourism and Sports sectors
 Ram Nath Kovind addressed the Croatian-Indian Economic Forum in Zagreb
 Ram Nath Kovind conferred with Croatia’s highest civilian order
 Mahatma Gandhi’s bust to be unveiled in Croatia on 2nd October
President Ram Nath Kovind Visit To Chile
• President Shri Ram Nath Kovind, reached Santiago, Chile in the evening of 30th March,
2019.This was the final leg of his visit to three nations – Croatia, Bolivia and Chile.
 Bilateral talks between India and Chile.
 Ram Nath Kovind addressed India-Chile Business Forum
 India and Chile signed 3 MoUs
 India and Chile agreed to strengthen global response to defeat terrorism
 Ram Nath Kovind addressed Students at University of Chile On Gandhi’s Life
 Ram Nath Kovind visited Pablo Neruda Museum
 Ram Nath Kovind paid Floral Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi in Chile
 Ram Nath Kovind reviewed Guard of Honour
 Ram Nath Kovind visited Cape Town to address Indian Community
9|Page
BANKING & FINANCE

RBI in News
RBI makes NPA divergence rule easier for banks

• The RBI brought leniency in its rule on 1st April, 2019 by asking banks to disclose bad loan
divergences in their financial statements on the condition if divergence exceeds 10% of profit
prior to provision and contingencies.
RBI Sets WMA Limit For Government At Rs 75000 Crore For The First Half Of The FY 2019-20
• The Reserve Bank of India has set the limits for Ways and Means Advances (WMA) to Rs.
75000 crore for the first half of the financial year 2019-20. As and when the government of
India utilises 75% of the WMA limit, the central bank would activate fresh floatation of market
loans. The rate of interest issued on the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) will be Repo Rate
while the overdraft will exceed the Repo Rate by flat 2%.
First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2019-20-RBI cuts repo rate by 25 basis points
• Reserve Bank of India’s six-member monetary policy committee chaired by RBI Governor
Shaktikanta Das released its 1st Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy for 2019-20. RBI has reduced 0.25
basis points in the Policy Rates under liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) with immediate effect.
The Change in Policy rates are as follows:
 Repo Rate 6.00 %
 Reverse Repo Rate 5.75 %
 Marginal Standing Facility Rate 6.25 %
 Bank Rate 6.25 %
RBI alters LCR norms to enhance cash position of banks
• RBI has altered the LCR (Liquidity Coverage Ratio) norms to offer an additional 2% window to
lenders. The central bank has brought in this alteration in order to improve the cash position of
banks by harmonising liquidity requirements and giving away extra money to lenders.
Reserve Bank of India gave some guidelines for banks to set up new currency chests
• The Reserve Bank of India gave some guidelines for banks to set up new currency chests,
including a minimum area of 1,500 square feet for strong room and should have a processing
capacity of 6.6 lakh pieces of banknotes per day. The guidelines are based upon the
recommendations of the "Committee on Currency Movement" (CCM) chaired by DK Mohanty,
which was constituted by RBI in 2016.
RBI grants 12 years to LIC for reducing stake in IDBI Bank
• Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), the largest insurance company in India, got 12 years from
RBI for cut down stake in IDBI Bank. LIC is the lender’s major shareholder, and it has a 51 per
cent stake in the Bank. After 12 years LIC has to decrease stake in IDBI Bank by 10 per cent to
40 per cent.
RBI Permitted Reinsurance Brokers to Open Foreign Currency Accounts
• The Reserve Bank of India sanctioned reinsurance brokers to initiate non-interest bearing
foreign currency accounts with banks for undertaking transactions. The Insurance Regulatory
and Development Authority of India (IRDA) had issued notification and following this he RBI
declared Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a resident person in
India) Regulations, 2015 – Opening of Foreign Currency Accounts by Re-insurance and
Composite Insurance brokers.
The RBI issued Rs. 50 denomination banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series bearing the
Governor’s signature
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued Rs. 50 denomination banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi
(New) Series that bore Shri Shaktikanta Das’ (Governor of RBI) signature. The design of these
notes is exactly similar to the ‘Rs 50 banknotes’ in Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series.
10 | P a g e
RBI becomes the first APAC (Asia-Pacific) central bank to begin interest rate easing cycle
• The Fitch ratings notified that the RBI becomes the first central bank in the Asia-Pacific region
(APAC) to begin an interest rate easing cycle floated by benign food inflation and easier global
financial condition. In the 4 months of 2019, the RBI has cut policy interest rates 2 times by
0.25% each to one-year low of 6%.This is the 1st back-to-back rate cut since the MPC was
formed in 2016.
RBI gives HDFC’s proposal for holding 9.9% stake in Bandhan Bank
• The RBI has granted approval to HDFC Ltd for holding up to 9.9% stake in Bandhan Bank
following the Gruh Finance deal. Gruh Finance is the housing finance arm of HDFC Ltd and was
taken over in January by Bandhan Bank in a share-swap deal.
RBI divests entire stake in NHB and NABARD to the central government
• On the recommendations of the second Narasimham Committee report and the discussion
paper by RBI titled “Harmonizing the Role and Operations of Development Financial
Institutions and Banks” stated that RBI has divested its entire stake in National Housing Bank
(NHB) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to the central
government for Rs 1,450 crore and Rs 20 crore respectively. Now the central government
holds a 100 percent stake in both these financial institutions.
Fintech Start-Ups Allowed to Test Regulatory Sandbox: RBI
• Recently, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a 14 page draft document named "Enabling
Framework for Regulatory Sandbox" in which RBI proposes that Fintech start-ups can set up
regulatory sandbox or live-testing of innovative products and services in segments such as
digital KYC, retail payments and data analytics among others in the financial sector. The
concept of Regulatory Sandbox (RS) was proposed by a committee headed by RBI Executive
Director Sudarshan Sen.
RBI (Reserve Bank of India) gives approval for e-mandates to facilitate Internet Banking, Debit
Cards
• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has received approval from the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) to implement e-mandates (electronic mandates) for internet banking and
debit cards, which will allow the users to automatically deal with their recurring payments.
The limit for each mandate is set at Rs 1 Lakh, and depending on the usage, the organisation
will review the limit from time to time.
RBI is going to issue new Rs 20 denomination banknote with greenish-yellow colour
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue new Rs 20 denomination banknotes having a base
colour of greenish -yellow with size of 63 X 129 mm. The first Rs 20 notes were issued in the
Mahatma Gandhi Series in August 2001. The new note will have a motif of Ellora caves on the
dorsal side.
RBI notified that banking ombudsman saw 25% rise in customer complaints in FY18 over FY17
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) notified that the banking ombudsman received 24.9% more
customer complaints in FY18 over FY17, with 21 offices of the banking ombudsman receiving
1,63,590 complaints in 2017-18, thus marking a hike of 24.9% over 2016-2017. Overall, the
complaint disposal rate was 96.5% in FY18 and 92% in FY17.
RBI extends the previous ombudsman scheme to non-deposit taking NBFCs having asset size of
Rs.100 crore or higher
• The objective of this was to provide a cost-free and swift complaint-redressal mechanism
relating to shortage in the services, concerning loan and other issues by NBFCs under the
scheme.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed strict rules on opening and running of current
accounts of corporate borrowers in order to tackle fund diversion.
• RBI had notified that the banks with collection accounts will have to transfer funds to the
current account and the current accounts could be opened only with the lead bank of a lending
association. The rules would be applicable to corporates who have borrowed and used credit
facilities of more than Rs 50 crore from the banking system.
11 | P a g e
Loans issued by banks/others

Loan issued by Received by Amount Points to be noted
Asian Development India USD 3.88 It is the highest ever loan amount since
Bank (ADB) billion sovereign operations began in the country
in 1986. ADB committed several projects
like a USD 100-million loan to Ostro Kutch
Wind in Gujarat.
Reserve Bank of Rwanda 266.6$ The funding for the projects has been done
India (RBI)’s Exim million in 3 distinct tranches. The names of the
Bank projects are as follows:
 For supporting agricultural projects
 For the development of Special
Economic Zones (SEZs)
 For financing road projects in Rwanda.
UNSG India USD 38 Till now, the total amount which has to be
million paid to troops and police-contributing
countries (TCCs/PCCs) with respect to
active peacekeeping missions was USD 265
million.
Agreements/MoU’s Signed
Bank Signed with Points to be noted
Karnataka Bank Bharti Axa Life Insurance To distribute the latter’s life
Company insurance products to provide
insurance solutions to the customers
of Karnataka Bank
Canara Bank National Thermal Power The Loan facility prolonged at an
Corporation(NPTC) interest rate linked to 3-Month
MCLR of Bank. The lent amount
would be utilized to part finance
company’s capital expenditure. The
tenure for the loan is 15 years.
HDFC Bank Bombay Stock Exchange To spread more awareness about
(BSE) the benefits of listing startups as
well as to strengthen BSE startup
platform.
State Bank of India (SBI) PAISALO Digital Limited With the profound vision of
empowering the ‘Agri’, ‘MSME
segment’ and small businesses,
PAISALO Digital Limited signed the
first co-origination loan agreement
(designed at Rs.10,000 to 2 lakh)
with State Bank of India (SBI).
Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) M1Xchange Trade Receivables Discounting
TReDSplatform System (TreDS) is a digital platform
to assist MSMEs to get their bills
financed at a competitive rate
through a vendue where multiple
registered financiers can participate.
Bank of Baroda Srei Equipment Finance To offer joint loans for infrastructure
12 | P a g e
Ltd equipment under a new agreement.

Sourcing of loans will be facilitated
through iQuippo, which is a Kanoria
Foundation initiative.
Airtel Payments Bank Bharti AXA General For a two-wheeler insurance
Insurance product offering which is available
on MyAirtel App
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance To launch their 1st product titled
'Total Health Secure Goal'. The
product is a combination of 2
existing plans, namely, Health
Guard policy
by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance
and iSecure policy by Bajaj Allianz
Life Insurance.
Syndicate Bank BEML (Bharat Earth For financing Earth Moving and
Movers Limited) Construction Equipment which is
manufactured by BEML
Aegon Life Insurance Mobikwik The insurance product launched is
termed as the Aegon Life Group
Term Plus Plan.To launch a Rs 20
smart digital insurance product in
order to protect its wallet users from
death and accident related disability
cover for up to Rs 2 lakh.
RBL Bank Wirecard To promote financial inclusion in
India. Also, SoftBank invested EUR
900 million in Wirecard. Wirecard
will issue convertible bonds to
SoftBank with terms of five years.
Other Important Banking & Finance News

Bank of Baroda becomes the 3rd largest bank after its merger with Dena Bank & Vijaya Bank
• On April 1, 2019, the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank into Bank of Baroda has come into
effect. With this amalgamation, Bank of Baroda becomes the India’s second largest public
sector bank and third largest commercial bank after State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC Bank.
It was India’s first ever three-way merger of banks.
Reliance Mutual Fund partnering with Google, becomes the first Indian company to launch
voice-based financial transactions
• Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management (RNAM) has joined hands with Google to enable the
customers of Reliance Mutual Fund to carry out voice-based financial transactions. With this,
RNAM becomes the first company in India, to provide conversational interface.
Government infused Rs 205 crore into Bank of Maharashtra
• Government infused a capital of Rs. 205 crore into the state owned Bank of Maharashtra in lieu
of preferential allotment of shares. In this regard, the bank has issued and allotted its
15,47,16,981 equity shares at an issue price of Rs 13.25 per share to the govt.
One97 Communications-owned Paytm Money Gets SEBI Approval for Stock Broking
• One97 Communications-owned Paytm Money, the wealth management arm of Paytm, has got
approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to start offering a stock
broking service such as the ability to trade in equities and cash segments, derivatives, and
exchange-traded funds (ETFs) among other exchange-traded products.
13 | P a g e
Kotak Mahindra Bank Becomes The First Lender To Impose Charges On UPI Transactions,
Namely, Paytm, Google Pay, PhonePe among others
• For Kotak Mahindra Bank’s account holders, the first 30 peer-to-peer UPI fund transfer would
be free of cost. Once a person exceeds 30 UPI transactions, he will be charged Rs. 2.50 per
transaction for of Rs. 1000 or less. For transfers exceeding Rs. 1000, the bank will charge Rs. 5
plus 18% GST. Read full detail here
UPI transaction charges have been reduced by NPCI for promoting the uses
• For promoting the adoption of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI) has reduced the transaction fees up to Rs 1,000 by 60%. For UPI
transactions up to Rs.1,000, the charge has been cut to 10 paise from 25 paise, and for
transactions above Rs.1,000 has been retained at 50 paise.
For the first time, SEBI agrees to create ‘Airport Specific Fund’ worth Rs. 10,000 crore
• Under "Category II Alternate Investment Fund" (AIF), for the first time SEBI (Securities and
Exchange Board of India) has approved an "airport' specific fund". The name of the fund is
"Taking Off To the Future Airport Fund". It can raise a capital amounting to 1.5$bn (Rs. 10,000
crore). The Sponsor and Investment Manager of the fund is based in Chennai and is termed as
'Taking Off To The Future Investment Management LLP'.
Emirates Islamic, a bank in Dubai, becomes the world’s first Islamic bank to launch banking via
WhatsApp
Emirates Islamic bank launched a chat banking facility for its customer via Whatsapp and
become the world’s 1st bank in the Islamic banking sector to give such facility. It was
supported by Infobip.
HDFC AMC claims first position in terms of Assets
According to data released by the AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India), India’s asset
management companies have owned assets under management worth Rs. 24.46 trillion. HDFC
Asset Management Co. Ltd has achieved the top position with an average AUM of Rs. 3.42
trillion.
RBL Bank partners with CreditVidya to leverage customer experience
• RBL Bank has partnered with CreditVidya to enhance the lender’s customer experience (by
offering them relevant credit products) and construct customised offerings for over 15 lakh
customers. It had first partnered with CreditVidya in 2018 for instant and automated
verification of employment details of salaried card applicants.
Govt keeps interest rate unchanged for General Provident Fund at 8% for April-June, 2019-20
• For the first quarter of current financial year, the government has stuck to the previous
(January-March quarter of 2018-2019) interest rate for (GPF) General Provident Fund,
Contributory Provident Fund (CPF) and other schemes at 8%. According to the new rule, only
after the completion of 10 years of service (as against 15 years of service previously),
employees can withdraw the fund for selected purposes.
A unique proposition to pay electricity bill on EMIs launched by Bajaj Finserv
• A unique proposition to pay electricity bill on EMIs has been launched by Bajaj Finserv through
its lending arm Bajaj Finance Ltd. through the campaign of #BijliOnEMI. Customers can avail an
Insta Credit loan in their Bajaj Finserv Wallet to pay their electricity bills on EMI.
IDBI Bank launches NRI-Insta Online, A paperless account opening facility for NRIs
• IDBI Bank has launched ‘NRI-Insta Online’ account opening process for NRIs residing in
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) member countries to open an account in the Bank without
visiting the branch or submitting paper documents such as physical documents as well as KYC
proofs. This online facility is available in IDBI Bank’s website.
A quasi-cryptocurrency called as “Learning Coin,” launched by The World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• Two international financial institutions the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) have launched a private blockchain and quasi-crypto currency called as “Learning Coin”
for better understanding of blockchain technology and the function of crypto assets. The asset
14 | P a g e
will only be available for use within the IMF and the World Bank. It has no monetary value,
means it is not a true cryptocurrency.
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance receives ISO 31000:2018 Certification
• An insurance giant Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited has received ISO
31000:2018 certification by TUV India for applying risk management system which conforms
to the prescribed standards. ISO 31000:2018 is an international risk management standard
developed by International Organisation for Standardization (ISO).
Indiabulls General gets preliminary nod to foray into non-life business
• Indiabulls General Insurance has receivedR1 approval to its proposed general insurance
businessand preliminary toapproval foray into the non-life businessfrom the Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) respectively.
Life and Non-life insurers witness 11% and 13% rise in premium respectively
• According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) data, after
a very low growth phase, life and non-life premium income of insurance companies have
registered substantial growth in financial year 2019. Life insurer’s premium income grew 11%
in FY19 over 2018 and non-life insurance firms witnessed a 13% rise in their total premium
income to Rs 1.70 lakh crore in the financial year ended March 2019.
Canara Bank: India’s First Public Sector Bank To Meet RBI’s EMV Mandate
• Global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions, ACI Worldwide,
notified that India’s public sector bank, Canara Bank has successfully rolled out new
functionality that supports EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) card acquiring across its ATM
(Automated Teller Machine) network and Aadhaar Authentication, thus becoming the 1st in
the market to leverage ACI’s UP Retail Payments solution and the 1st public sector bank to shift
to EMV chip and PIN for card based transactions across the country’s vast ATM network.
SBI General launched cyber defence insurance
• SBI General Insurance has launched its new product – cyber defence insurance to protect
businesses from financial and reputational losses due to cyber attacks. Its Cyber Defense comes
with CyRUSS (Cyber Risk Underwriting & Solution Suite) which is a cloud-based tool for
Commercial Cyber polices including risk assessment, ongoing risk management, and claim
management.
Deposits in Jan Dhan accounts are set to cross Rs 1 lakh crore mark
On 21st April 2019, the total deposits in Jan Dhan Account are set to cross Rs 1 lakh crore soon.
On 3rd April, the total balance in the Jan Dhan accounts was at Rs 97,665.66 cr. Recently, the
government increased the accident insurance cover to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1 lakh for new
accounts opened after 28th August 2018.
The Authorised capital of Allahabad Bank raised to Rs. 8000 crore by the government
The central government has increased the authorized capital of state-owned Allahabad Bank
from Rs. 3,000 crore to Rs. 8,000 crore after consultation with the Reserve Bank of India.
Kotak Mahindra Bank becomes the first Destination Bank to launch debit card based e-
mandates On NPCI’s E-Mandate API Platform
• Kotak Mahindra Bank (Kotak) has launched the first debit card-based authentication solution
on NPCI’s (National Payments Corporation of India) e-Mandate (electronic mandate) API
(Application Program Interface) platform, thus being the first ever Destination Bank to go live
with both Net Banking and Debit Card-based e-mandate authentication.
State Bank of India (SBI) launched India’s first ‘Green Car Loan’ (Electric Vehicle) to encourage
customers to buy electric vehicles
• On World Earth Day- April 22, 2019 the State Bank of India (SBI) has launched India’s first
‘Green Car Loan’ (Electric Vehicle) to encourage customers to buy electric vehicles. The new
scheme ‘Green Car Loan’ will offer loan at 20 basis points lower than the interest rate on the
existing car loan schemes. The scheme comes with the longest repayment period of up to 8
years.
15 | P a g e
Finance Ministry approves EPF interest rate hike to 8.65% for 2018-19
• The Department of Financial Services, a wing of the Ministry of Finance, has approved an
Employee’s Provident Fund (EPF) interest rate hike of 10 basis point to 8.65 percent for 2018-
19, as decided by the retirement fund body Employee’s Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
HDFC Bank and Max Bupa launch AnyTimeHealth machines to distribute health insurance
products
• Max Bupa, India’s health insurance company collaborated with HDFC Bank, India’s leading
private sector banks, and launched ‘AnyTimeHealth (ATH) machines. The machine is an
automated, web-based model that permits customers to avail health assessment, namely, Body
Mass Index’, ‘Blood Pressure’, ‘Body Type & Fat percentage’, ‘Muscle percentage’, ‘Bone Mass’,
‘Body Temperature’.
Real-Time Voice Banking Platform Launched named FSS Voice Commerce
• Financial Software Services (FSS) has launched FSS Voice Commerce which is a real-time voice
banking platform to provide customers with personalized banking interactions. It uses
machine-learning language processing techniques for analysis and synthesis of language and
speech to deliver the service.
Canara Bank and its life insurance partner Canara HSBC OBC Life launched ’Webassurance’
• Canara Bank and its life insurance partner Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life
Insurance launched ’Webassurance’ to enable its customers to purchase life insurance in a
convenient and hassle-free way. This Life Insurance is jointly owned by Canara Bank (51
percent) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (23 percent) and HSBC Insurance Holdings (26
percent), the Asian insurance arm of HSBC.
SC gave ultimatum to RBI to disclose information under RTI Act
• Recently, Supreme Court bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao has directed the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) to disclose information related to its annual inspection report of banks
under the Right to Information (RTI) Act until and unless they are exempted under law. The
bench has also directed the RBI to review its policy to disclose information relating to banks
under RTI.
Bharti AXA General Insurance, the 1st company to sell 2-wheeler policies via WhatsApp, by
partnering with Wishfin
• Bharti AXA General Insurance, the first company in the domestic non-life insurance industry
has collaborated with web aggregator, Wishfin Insurance to sell 2-wheeler policies via social
WhatsApp named ‘Buy Two-Wheeler Insurance on WhatsApp’. This policy is an instant,
effortless and additional customer service option avaiable for the policyholders.
Paytm Launches Recurring Payment Options for startups
• Noida-based e-commerce payment system and digital wallet company, Paytm launched a new
option of recurring payments for its merchants to enable recurring payments. Recently it also
started its own subscription business at an annual fee of Rs 750 where consumers pay at
regular intervals.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY NEWS
GROWTH RATE:
Organization Year Rate

Fitch 2019-20 6.8%. and 7.1% in FY 2020-21.
Asia Development Bank 2019-20 7.2%
World Economic Outlook (WEO) 2019 7.3% . 7.5% in 2020.

released by International
16 | P a g e
Monetary Fund (IMF)
World Bank 2019-20 7.5 %.The real GDP growth is

estimated at 7.2 per cent in
FY18/19.
India Ratings and Research 2019-20 7.3 %
Fitch kept India’s rating unchanged at BBB- with Stable outlook

• Fitch Rating affirms India’s sovereign rating at the lowest investment grade of BBB-with a
stable outlook. The growth rate of India forecasted by Fitch is 6.8% in financial year 2019-20
and 7.1% in FY 2020-21. Since 2006, this is the 13th year in a row that India is getting "BBB"
ranking from Fitch.
Anti-Dumping Duty has been imposed on the import of Solar Components from four nations
• In order to safeguard domestic players against cheap shipments, Department of Revenue,
Government of India has imposed anti-dumping duty up to USD 1559 (Rs 1,07,844) per tonne
on the import of certain solar cell components (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Sheet for Solar Module)
from China, Malaysia, Saudia Arabia and Thailand for a period of 5 years.
GST Revenue collection for March, 2019 recorded Highest Collection in the FY 2018-19
• Total Gross GST revenue collected in the month of March, 2019 has crossed the Rupees One
Lakh Crore mark as it has recorded the collection of Rs.1,06,577 crore of which CGST is Rs.
20,353 crore, SGST is Rs.27,520 crore, IGST is Rs.50,418 crore (including Rs. 23,521crore
collected on imports) and Cess is Rs. 8,286 crore (including Rs. 891crore collected on imports).
BNP Paribas Cardif sold 5 crore shares in SBI Life Insurance for 2,889 crore
• The foreign partner of SBI Life Insurance, BNP Paribas Cardif has sold 5 crore shares of the
company for Rs 2,889 crore to increase its public shareholding to 25% of its paid-up equity
share capital on or before October 2, 2020. The average price of equity share during the sale
was Rs 577.93 per equity share.
Micromax Co-founder unveils India’s first AI-enabled e-motorcycle brand
• Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma has announced his incursion into smart mobility with the
launching of an AI (Artificial intelligence) enabled electric motorcycle. This launch is expected
to hit the roads by June this year. He has set up Revolt Intellicorp Pvt Ltd, headquartered at
Gurugram.
BSNL has received the In-Flight Connectivity License from the Department of
Telecommunications (DoT)
• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has received the In-Flight Connectivity license from the
Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for enabling in-flight and maritime connectivity
(IFMC) within Indian airspace. BSNL and Inmarsat, which is the satellite partner of BSNL, also
operates the GX Aviation service will be able to offer in-flight connectivity to airlines.
Indian APA regime steps forward as CBDT signs 18 APAs in March 2019
• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into 18 APAs (Advance Pricing
Agreements) inclusive of 03 Bilateral APAs (BAPAs) during the month of March 2019. The total
number of APAs entered into by the CBDT in 2018-19 is 52, which is inclusive of 11 BAPAs. As
of now, the number of APAs entered into by the CBDT is 271, which includes 31 BAPAs.
A new seller-funding programme named "Amazon Wings" was launched by Amazon India
• A new seller-funding programme named "Amazon Wings" has been launched by Amazon India
in partnership with Mumbai based Ketto, a crowd-funding platform to help the small
businesses and entrepreneurs to raise funds through latter. Also, it launches a dedicated
microsite to feature fundraisers initiated by sellers by which they can raise small ticket funds
starting from as little as Rs 50,000
NIIF and ROADIS on a joint venture to invest $2 billion in Road Projects
• The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and global private infrastructure
operator ROADIS (owned by Public Sector Pension Investment board abbreviated as PSP
17 | P a g e
investment) have jointly set up a platform for investing up to $2 billion in road projects in
India. ROADIS is the largest European highway concession manager in India with 710 km of
highways within its ownership and management.
PFS in a joint venture with USICEF finances solar projects in India
• PTC India Financial Services (PFS) an Infrastructure finance company has partnered with
(USICEF) the US-India Clean Energy Finance to leverage funds for solar projects in India. This
innovative venture can contribute to achieve India’s distributed energy target of 40 GW
(gigawatt) by 2022.
Centre meets Fiscal Deficit of 3.4% in 2018-2019
• India has met the revised fiscal deficit target of 3.4% of gross domestic product in fiscal year
2018-2019. Target has been achieved by cuts in state spending and higher borrowings from
small savings funds. Centre has missed the tax collections target by over 1 trillion rupees which
includes around 500 billion rupees shortfall in income tax receipts.
India’s steel demand to grow by over 7% in FY19, FY20
• As per the Indian Steel Association, India’s steel demand is grown by over 7 percent in 2019
and 2020, due to the sectors like construction, capital goods, and railways. The forecast for
steel demand growth is 7.1 percent in 2019 and by 7.2 percent in 2020. The consumption of
steel in India is likely to cross 100 million tonnes (MT) mark in 2019.
RailWire Wi-Fi is live at 1600 railway stations in India
• Railtel, neutral telecom infrastructure providers in India, turned 1600 railway stations in India
into RailWire WiFi zone. Santacruz railway station in Mumbai is the 1600th station to become
a RailWire Wi-Fi zone. RailWire is a retail Broadband initiative of the RailTel.
Indian Government clears procurement of 464 Russian tanks under the T-90 Project
• The Cabinet Committee of Security has cleared the procurement of 464 Russian tanks from
Russia under T-90 project in a deal worth over Rs 13,500 crore. The tanks would be given to
the Armoured Corps of the force which will be furthered used by them for deployment along
the India-Pakistan border.
IMO launches new rules on electronic information exchange
• IMO (International Maritime Organisation) has mandated a new rule for national governments
to launch electronic information exchange between ships and ports. This mandatory
requirement came into effect from April 8, 2019 is part of a package of amendments under the
revised Annex to the FAL Convention, adopted in 2016.
Google Pay partners with MMTC-PAMP to introduce buying and selling of Gold
• Google Pay has partnered with Bullion refiner MMTC-PAMP India to initiate buying and selling
of gold through the app to make Google Pay more useful for Indian customers. Through this
pact, Google Pay users will be able to buy 99.99 per cent 24-karat gold for any value, which will
be stored on behalf of the user in secure vaults by MMTC-PAMP.
Google opens its 1st African Lab in Ghana
• Google has launched its first African artificial Intelligence (AI) laboratory in Accra, capital city
of Ghana, to tackle Africa’s challenges. The lab will collaborate with researchers in Ghana and
across Africa to create the need impact in the country.
India turns to net steel importer in Fiscal year 2018-2019
• India has became a net importer of steel in the fiscal year 2018-2019 that ended on 31 March
for the first time in 3 years, as the 25% import duty on steel products imposed by the US
diverted supplementary supplies to India.
ETMONEY becomes India’s first comprehensive financial services app to integrate with Unified
Payment Interface (UPI)
• ETMONEY India’s largest app for financial services has integrated with UPI as a payment
method. The reason for this is to double its monthly user base by the end of 2019. This
integration will simplify the mutual fund payment for millions of ETMONEY users.
18 | P a g e
Non-Core assets needed to be sold by CPSEs in a notice period of 12 months

• The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) stated guidelines for
monetisation of non-core assets of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and immovable
enemy properties. An Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) headed by the secretary of DIPAM will
identify the non-core assets of the CPSEs. It could identify the assets on the basis of
recommendations of the Niti Aayog. The final decision would be taken by the panel chaired by
the Finance minister. After the final approval of the assets, the monetisation should be strictly
completed within 12 months.
D&B report cited Business Sentiments down by 7.7% for Q2 in 2019
• According to Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) report, business sentiments on the country’s financial
and macroeconomic conditions continue to decline in the second quarter of 2019 as compared
to the second quarter in 2018. D&B Composite Business Optimism Index conclude 78.4 scores
during Q2 2019 as compared to 85.0 during Q2 2018, a decline of 7.7%..
CRISIL board gives nod for transfer of ratings business to new subsidiary
• A diversified global analytics company, CRISIL, will transfer its ratings business to its proposed
new wholly owned subsidiary. The transfer of rating business through the scheme of
arrangement in terms of section 230 to 232 of the Companies Act, 2013, to be approved by the
stock exchanges and the national Company Law Tribunal.
Asian Tea Alliance launched in China
• To boost tea trade,cultural and technical exchanges as well as global promotion of tea,the Asian
Tea Alliance (ATA),a union of five tea-growing and consuming countries,was opened in
Guizhou,China. The alliance was constituted with Indian Tea Association,Indonesian tea
Marketing Association,China tea marketing Association,Sri Lanka Tea Board and tea
Association.
FAME II scheme has made compulsory for electric vehicles to feature 50% localisation for
receiving subsidies
• Under the FAME II scheme, the Central Government has made compulsory for Electric Vehicle
(EV) manufactures in India to locally source at least 50% components for the provision of
receiving subsidies. The conditions under FAME II scheme were decided by the Inter-
Ministerial Steering Committee of National Mission for Transformative Mobility headed by
Amitabh Kant, (Chief executive Officer) CEO of NITI Aayog.
India Post collaborates with TCS to digitalize 1.5 lakh post offices & creating world’s largest
EPostal network by deploying largest SAP implementation
• Both the companies had struck a deal of over Rs. 1,100 crore in 2013 for an end-to-end IT
modernization program. For accomplishing this objective, TCS has over 1.3 lakh DARPAN 1 for
remote villages. DARPAN 1 is a hand-held device that the Gramin Dak Sevaks can use to give
postal services even without any Internet or network connectivity.
Stanford study revealed that Global warming shrank Indian Economy by 31 percent
• As per the Stanford study, changes in the earth’s temperature have increased inequalities
which resulted in the shrinking of the Indian economy by 31 percent due to global warming.
The study published in the journal titled ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’.
Food regulator FSSAI has extended ban on import milk products from China, until all labs at
ports are upgraded to test the toxic chemical Melamine
• The government has extended the ban on import of milk and milk products from China
(including chocolates, chocolate products, candies, confectionary, food preparations with milk
or milk solids as an ingredient). Melamine is an extremely toxic chemical that is used for
making plastics and fertilisers.
Minimum subscription requirement for REITs and InvITs has reduced by SEBI
• Recently, SEBI in his guidelines titled “Guidelines for Determination of Allotment and Trading
Lot Size for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts
(InvITs)” has reduced the minimum subscription requirement as well as defined trading lots
for REITs and InvITs. For determining the allotment in an initial offer and follow on public
19 | P a g e
offers, REITs have to offer their units in lots worth at least Rs 50,000 and in case of InvITs, the
minimum value of a single lot should be Rs 1 lakh.
India’s Pharmaceuticals export increases 11% to USD 19.2 billion in 2018-19
• This is mainly due to increase demand in regions such as North America and Europe. The
pharmaceuticals export in 2017-18 was USD 17.3 billion. India is the largest provider of
generic medicines globally as 20 percent (in terms of volume) of generic medicines
requirement was supplied by India globally.
First Indian Platform for Wholesale Cryptocurrency Trading has introduced by BuyUcoin
• BuyUcoin, second oldest Cryptocurrency Exchange in India, has introduced a new and unique
platform for wholesale cryptocurrency trading. This platform works on ‘free trading model’
which means it charges zero fee on any trade. This wholesale platform also known as OTC
(Over-the-counter) Desk allows users to trade on a large scale with low price fluctuations.
DPIIT proposes Startup India Vision 2024 tax sops for new ventures by planning to set up
50,000 new start-ups in India by 2024 and create 20 lakh job opportunities
• The Commerce and Industry Ministry has proposed measures such as tax incentives to
promote entrepreneurs as part of the ‘Startup India Vision 2024’. The vision document has
been prepared by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) which
is under the Commerce and Industry Ministry.
Microsoft becomes world’s third company to be worth $1 trillion
• Seattle-based tech giant Microsoft has reached a valuation of $1 trillion for the first time after a
jump in stock valuation that followed a qualitative-laden third fiscal quarter and has again
taken over Apple as the world’s most valuable company.
HCL Technologies sets up cybersecurity centre in Texas to enhance business growth
• IT services HCL Technologies has set up a CyberSecurity Fusion Centre (CSFC) in Frisco, Texas,
US. The main objective of the setting up of the CSFC by HCL Technologies' is to boost business
growth by providing customers with a single point of contact for the business security lifecycle
- from detection to repairment.
IEPF Authority recovers Rs 1514 Cr of Depositors Money from Kolkata-based Peerless General
Finance and Investment Company
• The Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) Authority has recovered deposits worth Rs
1,514 crore that was pending with the company for the last 15 years, from Kolkata-based
Peerless General Finance and Investment Company. Investor Education and Protection Fund
(IEPF) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and was established by the
central government under Section 125 of Companies Act 2013.
Economist Intelligence Unit set to bring down India’s growth outlook for 2019-20
• Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in its report said that in 2019-20 India’s economy will grow
below its potential due to a generally weaker global economy and structural challenges such as
high unemployment. EIU will make a downward revision to its current forecast of 7.2 percent.
Govt. forms committee to examine the introduction of e-invoices under GST
• The government of India has formed a 13-member committee having representatives from GST
Network (GSTN), central and state governments to examine the electronic tax invoice system
of various countries like South Korea, Latin America and suggest a model for India. The
introduction of electronic invoices (e-invoices) through the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
portal which will help the indirect tax system and keep a check on tax evasion.
Central Government hikes customs duty on wheat to 40 percent
• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) hiked the basic customs duty (BCD)
on wheat to 40% from 30%. The objective is to restrict imports so that domestic prices of
wheat do not come under pressure as the country’s wheat production in this season might
cross 100 million tonnes.
20 | P a g e
Indian cyber insurance market grows 40% with 350 cyber insurance policies bought in 2018
against 250 in 2017
• A report titled 'Cyber Insurance in India- Mitigating Risks amid Changing Regulations and
Uncertainties' by Data Security Council of India (DSCI) stated that cyber insurance market is
gradually gaining momentum in India as cyber-theft has increased substantially to become one
of the most prominent threats to the corporates' operations. The report broadly offers market
insights on the stances in cyber insurance.
MOUs/AGREEMENTS COUNTRIES & STATES

MoUs between Countries
No. MoU between Field
1. India and Bolivia They signed 8 MoUs in the fields of culture, mining, Visa waiver
arrangement for diplomats, the exchange between diplomatic
academies, space, traditional medicine, establishment of Centre of
Excellence in IT and Bi-Oceanic Railway project.
In the field of Geology and Mineral Resources
In the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy
2. India and Croatia They signed 4 pacts in Culture, Tourism and Sports sectors
3. India and Chile They signed 3 MoUs in the fields of mining, culture and
empowerment of persons with disabilities.
4. India and the To improve the bilateral cooperation in various fields
Netherlands
5. India and Sri Lanka To enhance collaboration in security and defence spheres in
several fields, including regional security, controlling drug
smuggling and human trafficking.
6. India and Denmark In the field of Renewable energy
7. India and Republic of To issue jointly Postage Stamp
Korea
8. India and Brazilin In the area of Biotechnology
9. India and Cambodia In the field of Communications
Other MoUs
S.No Organization MoU with Field/Purpose
1. Council of Scientific Indian Navy To tackle joint research and
and Industrial development of advanced technologies
Research (CSIR) for the Indian Navy.
2. National Bank for India For setting up India-Africa Institute of
Agriculture and Rural Agriculture and Rural Development
Development (IAIARD) in Malawi to enhance
Consultancy Service capacity in the areas of agro-financing
(NABCONS) and entrepreneurship development for
African countries.
3. BSE (earlier called MOEX (Moscow In order to allow capital formation
Bombay Stock Exchange) platform and connect investor
Exchange) and INX community and companies in both
(India International India and Russia.
Exchange)
21 | P a g e
4. Tata Consultancy Google Cloud To build industry-specific cloud

Services solutions
5. Tata Trusts Microsoft India To build a digitally-inclusive society.
Microsoft’s Project ‘ReWeave’ will help
to preserve traditional weaving forms
by upskilling workers, designing and
marketing products, and creating
sustainable livelihood options.
6. Indian Space Central Marine Fisheries To map, validate and protect smaller
Research Research Institute wetlands in the coastal region and
Organisation (ISRO) (CMFRI) preserve them through coastal
livelihood programmes.
7. Ayush Ministry Council of Scientific and For cooperation in the field of research
Industrial Research and education of traditional system of
(CSIR) medicines and its integration with
modern science.
8. Bombay Stock Network Intelligence To provide cyber security services to
Exchange (BSE) its members according to the cyber
security framework set by SEBI
9. National Indian Army To build four underground tunnels
Hydroelectric Power along China and Pakistan borders for
Corporation (NHPC) storage of ammunition and other war-
Limited related equipment.
10. Federation of Indian Prin. L N Welingkar Under the MoU, FIEO has launched a
Export Organisations Institute of Management post graduate programme in foreign
(FIEO) Development and trade management (PGP-FTM) at
Research Mumbai.
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

National
Name Appointed As Entity/Place Points To Be Noted
Anwar Haleem Ambassador of India Hashemite Kingdom of He will succeed Mrs.
Jordan Shubhdarshini Tripathi.
Dr.Suhel Ajaz khan Ambassador of India Republic of Lebanon He will succeed Sanjiv
Arora.
Varun Dhawan Brand Ambassador Emami Limited To endorse Navratna Cool.
Murali Kartik Brand Ambassador Fantasy 11,Gaming He is the’ official Fan
startup Management Partner’ for
Premier Badminton
League.
Mahendra Singh Brand Ambassador RedBus RedBus started its
Dhoni operation in 2006, works
with over 2500 bus
operator and have sold
more than 180 million bus
tickets till date. It also a
part of the MakeMyTrip
group.
Vikas Khanna Brand Ambassador Indo-American Arts
Council (IAAC)
22 | P a g e
Sairee Chahal Board of Directors Paytm Payments Bank Sairee Chahal is the
(PPB) founder and CEO of
Sheroes which is a
community platform for
women.
Kaushik Shaparia Chief Executive Officer Deutsche Bank He will succeed Ravneet
Gill. Now he took over the
position from Khurshed
Dordi, as Chief Operating
Officer for India, who was
serving as Deutsche Bank’s
interim Chief Country
Officer after Ravneet Gill’s
exit.
Bibhu Kalyan Nayak Chair International Hockey He is first Indian to have
Federation (FIH) Health been nominated by FIH as
and Safety Committee the Medical Officer for a
World Cup.
Keshav Murugesh Chairman NASSCOM (National Nasscom also designated
Association of Software Pravin Rao, Infosys COO
and services companies) UB as its Vice Chairman for
2019-20.
Jitendra Chaddah Chairman India Electronics and He succeeds Anil Kumar
Semiconductor Muniswamy
Association (IESA)
Ravinder Kumar Chairman Export Promotion He will take charge for the
Passi Council for Handicraft post of Chairman shortly
(EPCH) from his predecessor O P
Prahladka.
Usha Padhee Chairman & Managing Pawan Hans Ltd The post was vacant since
Director the superannuation of then
incumbent B P Sharma.She
becomes the first woman
CMD of the mini ratna-I
category PSU.
Shiv Das Meena Chairman & Managing National Buildings He will succeed Dr. Anoop
Director Construction Kumar Mittal.
Corporation (NBCC)
Vinod K. Dasari Chief Executive Officer Royal Enfield He will succeed Siddhartha
(CEO) Lal for CEO post.
Rajendra Kumar Controller General of He will succeed Smt.
Nayak Defence Accounts Madhulika P Sukul
(CGDA)(52nd)
Ravi Shastri Corporate Dubai based ‘RAKEZ’ Ravi Shastri, also known as
Ambassador “Champion of Champions”
Siddhartha Chief Operating Officer LIC Housing Finance He started his career with
Mohanty (COO) LIC of India in 1985.
Padmaja Chief people officer PwC India She takes over the role
Alaganandan from Jagjit Singh
Rajesh Kumar Executive Director Punjab National Bank Currently PNB has three
Yaduvanshi (PNB) Executive Directors,
23 | P a g e
namely, Yaduvanshi, L V
Prabhakar and A K Azad.
M S Yadav General Secretary All India Federation of
PTI Employees' Unions
(AIFPTIEU)
Mukesh Kumar General Secretary Judo Union, the Asian The present President of
governing body Judo Federation of India,
Partap Singh Bajwa was
elected as Vice President of
Judo Union of Asia and as
president of South Asia
Judo Federation.
Mithali Dorai Raj Goodwill ambassador Indian women's cricket This is the first cricket
team world cup for street-
connected children and
final will be played at
Lord’s in London on May 7.
Pierre-Dimitri Gore- Head of Asia-Pacific Uber He will succeed Amit Jain
Coty region
Manish Maheshwari Head India Twitter He will succeed Balaji
Krish who was serving as
the interim head after
Taranjeet Singh had
stepped down from the
same role.
Rakesh Malhotra High Commissioner of Republic of Cameroon
India
Jaideep Sarkar High Commissioner of Republic of South Africa He will succeed Ruchi
India Ghanashyam.
Dalbir Singh Suhag High Commissioner of Republic of Seychelles He will succeed Ausaf
India Sayeed
Mayoori Kango Industry head Google India She will lead Google
engagement with Publicis
(Parent Company of
Performics) and DAN.
Sanjay Manohar Managing Director McAfee India He will succeed Venkat
Krishnapur
Vipin Anand Managing Director Life Insurance He will succeed interim
Corporation of India chairman, Hemant
(LIC) Bhargava.
Karnam Sekar MD and CEO Indian Overseas Bank He is currently the CEO
and MD of Dena bank.
V.P. Pathak Member (Materials Railway Board Previously, he had been
Management) working as Director
General (RS), Railway
Board since June 2018, and
General Manager of
Chittaranjan Locomotive
Works since December
2016.
N. Kashinath Member (Signal & Railway Board He was associated with
Telecom) Train Describer Project,
24 | P a g e
Survey for the Mobile

Train Radio
Communication in
Northeast Frontier
Railway, etc.
Dilip Kumar Officer on Special Duty Lok Sabha
(OSD)
Vikram Kirloskar President Confederation of Indian He succeeded Rakesh
Industry(CII) Bharti Mittal who is Vice
Chairman of Bharti
Enterprises.
Vikramjit Singh President International Chamber He will succeed Jawahar
Sahney of Commerce- India Vadivelu.
Gargi Kaul Secretary Defence Finance The senior bureaucrat,
Kaul is currently serving as
Financial Advisor (Defence
Services), Ministry of
Defence.
Air Marshal D Senior Air Staff Officer Western Air Command
Choudhury AVSM
VM VSM
Doru Isac Technical director All India Football He succeeds Savio Madeira
Federation(AIFF)
Najma Akhtar Vice-chancellor Jamia Millia Islamia She will succeed Talat
University (JMI) Ahmad
WhileAir Marshal Vice Chief Indian Air Force(IAF) He succeeds Air Marshal
Rakesh Kumar Anil Khosla
Singh Bhadauria
International
Name Appointed as Entity/place Points to be noted
Manu Sawhney Chief Executive International Cricket
Officer (CEO) Council (ICC)
Sheikh Salman Chief Asian football
bin Ebrahim Al
Khalifa
Lori Lightfoot Mayor Chicago She is the first Black Women
Mayor & also the first lesbian
Leader for the City. She will
succeed Rahm Emanue.
Praful Patel Member FIFA Executive Council He has become the first Indian to
enter the elite panel of the game's
global governing body.
Sanjay Kumar Member US’s National Geospatial Sanjay Kumar was honoured
Advisory Committee with the Global Geospatial
(NGAC) Industry Ambassador award by
the United Nations Global
Geospatial Information
Management (UN-GGIM).
Abdelkader President Algeria He has been appointed as the
Bensalah (77) interim President of the country.
25 | P a g e
Davis Malpass President World bank He will succeed Jim Yong-Kim.

Volodymyr President Ukraine He defeated incumbent Petro
Oleksandrovych Poroshenko of Petro Poroshenko
Zelensky Bloc "Solidarity" party.
Benjamin Prime Minister Israel This is his 5th term
Netanyahu
Jean Michel Prime Minister Haiti He succeeds Jean-Henry Ceant.
Lapin
Mohammed Prime Minister Palestine The new 24 member cabinet
Ishtayeh replaces a technocratic
government, which was formed
by Rami Hamdallah in 2014.
Resignations
Name Resigned as Entity/Place
Nasim Zaidi Non-executive and non- Jet Airways
independent director
Abdelaziz Bouteflika President Algeria
Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga Prime Minister Mali
Uday Kumar Varma Secretary General Associated Chambers of
Commerce and Industry
(Assocham)
Rajan Anandan Vice president Google India and South East
Asia
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Name of Awards Award Winner Field Points to be noted

Awards in the Field of Literature & Academics
Maharshi Badrayan Dr. Gyanaditya literature He was conferred the award for his
Vyas Samman 2019 Shakya outstanding contribution in the field of
Pali language and literature.
Saraswati Samman K Siva Reddy Poetry For his collection of poetry titled
2018 ‘Pakkaki Ottigilite’
2019 Citi Journalistic Mint’s Teena She has been conferred with this
Excellence Awards Thacker award for her long story titled ‘How
Johnson & Johnson is scooting from the
hip’ in Mint.
Cano Press Freedom Kyaw Soe Oo and Journalist For recognizing their commitment,
Prize 2019 Wa Lone courage and resistance to freedom of
expression.
Pulitzer Prize 2019 “The Overstory” by The Pulitzer Prize for Journalism was
Richard Powers awarded to Staff of the South Florida
Sun Sentinel under Public service
Category.List of Awards.
Pandit Govind Ballabh Sunil Kumar For writing ‘Samvidhan Kavya’, a
Pant Award Gautam poetic verse of the Indian Constitution
26 | P a g e
Second edition of Rana Dasgupta For his 2010 novel "Solo".

Rabindranath Tagore
Literary Prize 2019
Awards in the Field of Politics,Social Service,Science and Bravery
Zayed Medal PM Narendra Modi For boosting This is United Arab Emirates’s highest
the bilateral civilian honour.
ties between
India & UAE
Awards in the Field of Sports
Asian Tour’s Special Dr. Pawan Munjal For his contributions to Asian Golf
Achievement Award
ESPN India Awards Neeraj Chopra Sportsperson of the Year (Female)-PV
2018’s Sportsperson (Javelin throw) Sindhu (Badminton), Emerging
of the Year (Male) Sportsperson of the Year-Saurabh
Chaudhary (Pistol Shooting),Coach of
the Year-Jaspal Rana (Pistol Shooting),
Comeback of the Year-Saina Nehwal
(Badminton),Match of the Year-Amit
Panghal (Boxing),Team of the Year-
Women Table Tennis team,Differently-
abled Athlete of the year-Ekta Bhyan
(Para-athletics),Lifetime Achievement
award Pradip Kumar ‘PK’ Banerjee
(Football),Moment of the Year-
Women’s 4*400m relay team
Wisden Cricketers' Virat Kohli Cricketer Smriti Mandhana bagged the women's
Almanack 2019(Male) Leading Cricketer of the year for the
first time while Indian men's team
captain was named for the third
straight year.
Outstanding Gaganjeet Bhullar Golfer 31 year old Bhullar was awarded
achievement as a Arjuna Award in 2013.
player award
Football Writers' Raheem Sterling Footballer Nikita Parris won the FWA's Women's
Association (FWA) footballer of the year 2019 award.
Footballer of the Year
2019
Awards in the Field of Art and Culture,Films
Deenanath Madhur Salim Khan and dancing diva Helen
Mangeshkar Award Bhandarkar was also felicitated.To encourage
2019 legends from the fields of music,
drama, art and social work.
Awards for State,Country,Banks and Organization
Global Slag Company Tata Steel Business For its innovative practices in the
of the Year development of new applications for
Steel by-products (Slag)
Lifetime Contribution Mahendra Mohan Business He is the Chairman & Managing
to Media category by Gupta Director of Jagran Prakashan Ltd and
All India Management Editorial Director of Dainik Jagran. The
Association (AIMA) Lifetime Contribution Award was also
27 | P a g e
Managing India awarded to Azim H Premji, Chairman,

Awards 2019 Wipro Limited. Read full detail of
awards here:
Dr. Babasaheb Sudhanshu Kumar Business While his agency Digital Sukoon,
Ambedkar Nobel named as the Best Digital Agency of
Award by the Year 2019.
International Human
Rights Council
Celent Model Bank Fincare Small Organization The award recognizes LAP (Loans
2019 Finance Bank (SFB) against Property) D.Lite, which is a
tab-based solution designed and
developed in-house by Fincare SFB for
instant underwriting of loans against
property targeted at micro and small
enterprises.
National Intellectual Kerala Agricultural Organization For its contributions in best facilitation
Property Award 2019 University (KAU) for registration of Geographical
Indications and promotion of
registered GI in the country.
Swacchta Pakhwada All India Radio, Organization The award was given by Amit Khare,
Award 2019 Publication Secretary Ministry of Information and
Division and Broadcasting.
Children’s Film
Society of India
Intellectual Property Sree Chitra Tirunal The award was given under the
Award 2019 Institute for category of “Top Indian R&D
Medical Sciences Institution and Organisation for
and Technology Patents & Commercialisation”.
(SCTIMST)
Other important Awards
John drinks Canada Vikram patel Health For his research career raising the
Gairdner Global global profile of mental health
Health award problems
The Next Billion Dost Education’ Education The other winners for this prize were
Edtech Prize 2019 Technology Ubongo from Tanzania and PraxiLabs
Startup from Egypt.
Lifetime Achievement A K Singh Scientist The conclave was organised by the
Award 2019 during university to note World Creativity and
4th APJ Abdul Kalam Innovation Day.
Innovation Conclave
World Press Photo of John Moore “For theImage The little girl in this picture name
the Year of Crying Girl Yanela and her mother Sandra Sanchez
on the Border” illegally crossed the US-Mexican
border last year.
AIAA Neil Armstrong KIET Group of Team from Lovely Professional
Best Design Award Institutions in University in Phagwara, Punjab,
Ghaziabad, Uttar received “STEM Engagement Award”.
Pradesh The Mukesh Patel School of
Technology Management and
Engineering, Mumbai, Maharashtra,
received the “Frank Joe Sexton
28 | P a g e
Memorial Pit Crew Award”
UN Mission in South 150 Indian For serving the

Sudan (UNMISS)’s peacekeepers mission with
Medals of Honour extreme
dedication and
sacrifice.
UK’s Royal Society Yusuf Hamied (82) For his effort to produce low-cost
drugs to treat diabetes, cancer and
other diseases.
Cleveland Hall of Sree N Sreenath Other are Paul Burick, Ingrida Bublys,
Fame Dr. Akram Boutros, Richard
Fleischman and Marilyn Madigan.
World Press Freedom Cyril Almeida Journalist For his “critical” and “tenacious
Hero award in 2019 coverage” of the civil-military relations
in Pakistan. And also MadaMasr, an
Egyptian news site
National (IP) Benny Antony He is the inventor of BCM-95, the
Intellectual Property world’s leading patented turmeric
Award, 2019 extract formulation.
‘Compassionate Kid’ Derek C Saved the life of a chicken
award 2019 by People Lalchhanhima
for the Ethical
Treatment of
Animals(PETA) India
Prasanna Kumar Rao Corporate Enterpreneur The prestigious Asia Pacific
Excellence award Entrepreneurship Award (APEA) from
Enterprise Asia is a regional award
recognition programme that
recognizes entrepreneurial excellence.
Recognitions
Recognitions Name of Persons
First Inductee of Comic-Con Museum’s Character Batman
Hall of Fame
Geographical Indications (GI) tag Odisha’s Kandhamal Haldi (turmeric)
World’s oldest person to play in a professional Isaak Hayik
soccer
First railway station to get an ISO (International Guwahati Railway Station
Organisation for Standardisation) certification
New Zealand Prime Minister’s Sir Edmund Hillary Deepa Malik
Fellowship for 2019
Freedom of the City of London Alice G. Vaidyan
Recognised in theWorld Summit on the "Utkarsh Bangla” (Skill training of the youth) and
Information Society (WSIS) awards of the United “Sabooj Sathi” (cycles for students)
Nations (UN)
"Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle", by Russia Prime Minister Narendra Modi
TIME Magazine’s 100’s most influential people list Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani,
public interest litigators Arundhati Katju and
Menaka Guruswamy who fought the legal battle
for LGBTQ rights
29 | P a g e
Best cinematography award in Beijing Bhayanakam (Fear)

International Film Festival
India’s first retail company Reliance Industries
First Indian Women In 359 Years To Join Royal Gagandeep Kang
Society
Fortune magazine’s 2019 list of world’s 100 Arunachalam Muruganantham (He ranked in 45th
greatest leaders rank).The list was topped by Bill and Melinda
Gates.
South Africa’s Order of Ikhamanga in the Silver Jacques Kallis
Division for his contribution to cricket
First Indian wrestler invited by the American Bajrang Punia
governing body to take part in the “Grapple at the
Garden — Beat the Streets” fight night
Forbes’ inaugural Blockchain 50 List MetLife
CONFERENCE/SUMMIT IN NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS

No Name of Summit/Conference Place Facts about the summit
/conference
1 Second edition of Belt and Road Beijing, China Theme - “Belt and Road
Forum (BRF) Cooperation: Shaping a Brighter
Shared Future”.
2 First Global Conference on Synergies Copenhagen, It is summoned by (UN DESA) the
between the 2030 Agenda and Paris Denmark UN Department of Economic and
Agreement Social Affairs and the (UN FCCC)
United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change.
3 17th edition of World Economic Dead Sea,Jordan
Forum on the Middle East and North
Africa
4 5th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union Kathmandu, Nepal Theme - “Media Solutions for
(ABU) Media Summit on Climate Sustainable Future: Saving Lives,
Action and Disaster Preparedness Building Resilient Communities”
5 Global Water Summit London, US National Mission for Clean Ganga
or Namami Gange which is India's
flagship programme, was
presented, with the 'Public Water
Agency of the Year' award by
Global Water Intelligence.
6 3-day National Cardiology Lucknow, Uttar Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu
Conference 2019 Pradesh was the chief guest of this
conference.
7 14th CII-EXIM Bank conclave on New Delhi India is one of the top trading
India-Africa Project Partnership partners of Guinea.Prime
Minister of Guinea, Dr Ibrahima
Kassory Fofana arrived in New
Delhi for addressing the conclave.
8 Biannual Army Commanders’ New Delhi Some issues like the management
Conference of the extant security dynamics,
mitigation of future security
threats were discussed in this
conference.
30 | P a g e
9 4th Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific New Delhi It is organised by the

Congress 2019 International Council for Local
Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)
10 First edition of Naval Commanders New Delhi The themes of ‘Functional
Conference Reorganization of Indian Navy
towards enhancing Operational
Efficiency’ and ‘Optimal Manning’
were the core of discussions in
this conference.
11 G20 summit 2020 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia This will be the first G20 meeting
in the Arab world and the 15th
meeting of the G20 (Group of
Twenty). The G20 summit of
2019 will be held in Osaka, Japan.
12 Croatian-Indian Economic Forum Zagreb, Croatia Theme - “India – Croatia
relations- the way forward”.
COMMITTEE/MEETING IN NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Meetings Held
No. Name of Meeting Place Facts about the Committee/Meeting
1 4th Meeting of India-Ukraine New Delhi They discussed bilateral trade featuring the
Working Group on Trade and importance of exports and imports between
Economic Cooperation (IU- the 2 countries
WGTEC)
2 21st ASEAN-India Senior New Delhi To improve the connectivity and strengthen the
Officials’ Meeting (SOM) cooperation in the maritime sector between
Indian and the ASEAN countries. India
welcomed Thailand for its role as Country
Coordinator of the ASEAN-India dialogue
partnership for the period 2018-2021.
3 Russian President Vladimir Vladivostok, The aim of this meeting is to break the
Putin and North Korean Russia deadlock over North Korea’s nuclear weapons
leader Kim Jong Un holds first- programme.
ever talks
4 IMF’s International Monetary Washington, G-20 conducted the joint World Bank-IMF
and Financial Committee D.C.,U.S Development Committee during the 2019
meeting Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C.,U.S.
Committee’s Formed
No. Name of Head Facts about the Committee
Committee/Organization
which formed the
committee
1 Ministry of Home Affairs Chander Shekhar The tribunal has been formed by Government
constituted Unlawful after exercising its powers conferred by the
Activities (Prevention) sub-section (1) of section 5 of the Unlawful
Tribunal Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
2 National Green Tribunal Adarsh Kumar To examine the alleged erosion of Yamuna
established a committee Goel floodplain due to movement of heavy vehicles
in Sonipat district in Haryana.
31 | P a g e
3 NGT(National Green Tribunal) To enforce a national plan to reduce the river

has formed a Central pollution.
Monitoring Committee
4 high-level ‘anti-hijack panel’ is P.K.Sinha It will have 15 top officials including pre-
revamped to Committee of identified nominated members who can
Secretaries on Aircraft Hijack represent regular members during their
(COSAH) absence.
5 Central Works Public M K Sharma For developing a design scheme to construct
Department (CPWD) set up an buildings and develop infrastructure. The
expert 8-member committee report has to be submitted to Director General
Prabhakar Singh within 30 days.
6 Ministry of Environment, C K Mishra Launched to handle the major issue of air-
Forests and Climate Change pollution in India
(MOEFCC) formed to
implement the National Clean
Air Programme (NCAP)
7 Insurance Regulatory and Suresh Mathur In order to review regulatory framework on
Development Authority of micro insurance, and suggest the steps to be
India (IRDAI) set up a 13- taken to raise demand for such products in
member committee India by recommending product designs with
customer-friendly underwriting, example, easy
premium payment methods and simple claims
settlement procedures.
INDEX
RANKINGS
Report Titles Name of the Organizations Key Notes
that Release the
report/Who Released
National Institutional President Ramnath Kovind Overall Ranking:
Ranking Framework Institute of Technology Madras
(NIRF) 2019 and Atal University Ranking:
Ranking of Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru
Institutions for
Innovation
Achievements
(ARIIA) 2019 ranking
Forbes World's Best Statista Number 1 bank:
Bank survey 1. HDFC Bank
2. ICICI Bank
3. DBS Bank
Migration and World Bank World’s top 5 recipient of remittances in 2018:
Development Brief 1. India: 79$ billion
2. China: 67$ billion
3. Mexico: 36$ billion
4. Philippines: 34$ billion
5. Egypt: 29$ billion
Most valuable market Bloomberg Top 3 World’s most valuable market
1. US
32 | P a g e
2. China
3. Hong Kong
World Press Freedom Reporters Without Borders Top 5 countries in World Press Freedom Index
Index 2019 2019:
1. Norway
2. Finland
3. Sweden
4. Netherlands
5. Denmark. India ranked 140.
Startup Ecosystem StartupBlink Top three countries:
Ranking for 2019 1.United States
2.United Kingdom
3.Canada. India ranked at 17th position.
2019 Index of Cancer Economist Intelligence Unit Top 3 nations:.
Preparedness (ICP) (EIU) 1. Australia
2. Netherlands
3. Germany. India ranked 19th position in the
Index.
QS Executive MBA Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore’s (IIM-
Rankings 2019 B) post-graduate programme in Enterprise
Management (PGPEM)
REPORTS
‘India’s Electric NITI Aayog and Rocky The objective of the FAME II scheme is to enhance
Mobility Mountain Institute (RMI) the government’s commitment to a clean mobility
Transformation: have released a report future with a major focus on electric automobiles.
Progress to Date and
Future Opportunities’
State of Global Air Health Effects Institute Air pollution is the third highest cause of death
2019 report (HEI) among all health risks in India.
2019 Global Report Food Security Information The report prepared by 15 leading global and
on Food Crises Network (FSIN) regional organizations was led by UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food
Programme (WFP) and International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI).
Asian Development Asian Development Around 26 trillion dollars from 2016 to 2030 or
Outlook 2019: Bank(ADB) 1.7 trillion dollars investment needed per year to
Strengthening build disaster-resilient infrastructure in Asia.
Disaster Resilience
State of World UN sexual and reproductive India's population grew to 1.36 billion at an
Population Report health agency average annual rate of 1.2% between 2010 and
2019 which stands more than double the annual
growth rate of China.
'Political Leaders Climate Trends List of Top 3 Polluted Cities in the world by
Position and Action WHO & Climate Trends:
on Air Quality in India 1. Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh
2014-2019 2. Faridabad in Haryana
3. Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh
Report on the A Special Counsel Robert A special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to
Investigation Into Mueller’s investigate the Russian interference in the 2016
Russian Interference US election.
33 | P a g e
in the 2016 Election

State of the Akamai Technologies Top 3 most targeted nation by hackers in
internet/security 2018:
1. US
2. India
3. Canada
2019 Global Food International Food Policy Rural areas continue to be in a state of crisis and
Policy Report (GFPR) Research Institute (IFPRI) threatening to slow the progress toward the
Sustainable Development Goals to hunger,
malnutrition, poverty, environmental degradation.
World’s military Stockholm International World's top 4 military spender in 2018:
expenditure Peace Research Institute 1. US
(SIPRI) 2. China
3. Saudi Arabia
4. India
Macro Research Fitch Solutions India is probably going to install 54.7GW of wind
report capacity by 2022 against the 60 GW target set by
the government. This wind capacity installation is
a part of India’s ambitious target of installing 175
GW of renewable energy capacity by the year
2022.
No Time to Wait: UN If no action is taken, by 2050, drug-resistant
Securing the future diseases could cause 10 million deaths every year
from drug-resistant which would in turn cause damage to the
infections economy much like the 2008-2009 global
financial crisis.
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS
Acquisitioner/Merger Netvalue(amount) Points to be Noted

Consulting arm of Global IT 144 million (approx. Rs 999 This move is aimed at strategic
Services major, Infosys acquire crore) partnership in Netherlands.
Starter NV subsidiary of Dutch
based ABN AMRO Bank
Larsen and Toubro (L&T) to Rs 10,800 crore
acquire 66.15 percent stake in
the Bengaluru-based IT services
firm Mindtree
PayU acquired Wibmo USD 70 million To assist the company scale-up
its business Under the
agreement, Wibmo will continue
to serve all of its clients as a
wholly-owned subsidiary of
PayU.
TTSL (Tata Teleservices Limited) With the condition that Sunil
consumer mobility business Mittalled firm provides bank
acquired with Bharti Airtel guarantees of about Rs. 7,200
crore.
Bandhan Bank acquired of Gruh The approval has been given
34 | P a g e
Finance under the sub-section (1) of

Section 31 of the Competition
Act, 2002. The swap ratio would
be 568 shares of Bandhan Bank
for every 1,000 shares of Gruh
Finance.
Quikr has acquired Bengaluru- INR 200 Crore To strengthen the sales of its pre-
based secondhand goods owned goods business
marketplace Zefo
DEFENCE
EXERCISE’s:
Exercise Name Participating Countries Location
AUSINDEX 19 India & Australia military Vishakhapatnam, India

exercise
Australia is conducting 7 nation Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean military exercises Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and
Singapore
African Lion 2019 Morocco- US Morocco
Bold Kurukshetra–2019 India and Singapore Jhansi’s Babina Cantonment,

Uttar Pradesh,India
IN – VPN BILAT EX Indian Navy and Vietnam Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam
Peoples’ Navy
Sea Vigil Indian Navy Exercise Sea Vigil's prime
objective is to safeguard India’s
7516.6 km coastline and its
exclusive economic zone, thus
helping in strengthening India's
Maritime and National security.
Anti-Submarine Warfare drill India and US Navy Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
This is the first bilateral anti-
submarine exercise after signing
of a Communications,
Compatibility and Security
Agreement (COMCASA).
ADMM-PLUS (ASEAN Defence Busan, South Korea. Indian
Ministers' Meeting) Navy’s 2 warships, INS Kolkata
and INS Shakti had gone to
Qingdao in China to participate in
the International Fleet Review
(IFR)
Testings:
Missile Name Location Features
‘Nirbhay’ Chandipur, Odisha Long range sub sonic cruise

missile indigenously designed
and developed by Bengaluru –
35 | P a g e
based Aeronautical Development

Establishment (ADE), a lab under
Defence Research and
Development Organisation
(DRDO) was test fired from
launch complex-3 of the
Integrated Test Range (ITR).
Other News Related to Defence:
COMCASA: First secure link between India, US navies set up

• India and the US have structured the first reliable communication link between the Indian
Navy & US Central as well as Pacific Naval Commands under the COMCASA pact at New Delhi,
India. The Indo-US military-information sharing pact, COMCASA was signed at the 2+2 bilateral
summit on 6th September, 2018.
US has consented the sale of 24 "MH-60R Seahawk" helicopters to India for $2.6 bn
• US has consented the sale of 24 "MH-60R Seahawk" helicopters to India for $2.6 bnAt an
estimated cost of $2.6 billion, the United States has approved the sale of 24 multi-mission
Lockheed Martin-built MH-60 "Romeo'"Seahawk helicopters to India. These choppers designed
for targeting ships, hunting submarines and conducting search-and-rescue operations at sea,
would replenish the age-old fleet of British-made Sea King helicopters, used by India.
Project75I, the Indian Navy’s Rs. 50,000-crore venture to build 6 lethal submarines
• Under the ambitious Project75-India, the Indian Navy desires to build 6 standard diesel-
electric submarines. These submarines would be 50% massive in size than the Scorpene class
submarines which are under-construction at the Mazagon Dockyards Limited. This would incur
an overall cost of Rs. 50,000 crore. Project 75I-class submarine is a follow-on of the Project 75
Kalvari-class submarines.
Indian Army patrol found wreckage of World War II US aircraft
• A 12-member patrol team of the Indian Army along with a police official has discovered the
wreckage of a World War II vintage US Air Force aircraft in Roing district of Arunachal Pradesh
The wreckage was located in a remote location at a distance of 30km from Roing and was
covered by thick undergrowth and buried under five feet of snow.
Vice admiral Bimal Verma drops petition challenging Karambir Singh’s appointment as navy
chief
• Vice Admiral Bimal Verma has dropped the petition to challenge the appointment of
Admiral Karambir Singh as the next Navy Chief. He will be seeking the "statutory remedy" of
approaching the government first. According to him, Vice present government is ignoring
seniority as the basis to appoint a Service Chief. He is six months senior to Vice Admiral
Karambir Singh.
Indian Navy Warships to take part in PLA Navy anniversary celebrations in China
• As part of the 70th Anniversary of People’s Liberation Army Navy celebrations in China, two
Indian Navy warships, namely INS Kolkata and INS Shakti will participate in the Chinese
International Fleet Review (IFR) maritime parade in Qingdao,on April 23.
A Guided Missile Destroyer ‘INS Imphal’ launched by Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lamba
• Indigenously designed and constructed third ship under Project 15B, ‘INS Imphal’ a guided
missile destroyer launched by Navy Chief at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in
Mumbai. This ship is designed by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Designs, New Delhi.
Antares Rocket launches Cygnus Cargo Ship to International Space Station
• The Northrop Grumman Antares rocket and its unscrewed Cygnus Spacecraft launched which
contains tons of NASA’s supplies and 40 live mice to the International Space Station (ISS), from
the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spacecraft at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in
36 | P a g e
Virginia. The first stage of rocket was developed by the Ukrainian Yuzhnoye State Design
Office.
Defence Ministry set to have three new tri-service agencies
• Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expecting to raise a Defence Cyber Agency (DCA) by May to tackle
non-civilian cyber issues arise from China and Pakistan, including safeguarding critical
infrastructure. Rear Admiral Mohit Gupta, Senior Navy officer will be the first head of this
agency, headquartered in New Delhi.
ICGS C-441 Commissioned at Vizhinjam
• The newly built Coast Guard Vessel ICGS C-441 was commissioned into the service by Tom
Jose, Chief Secretary of Kerala at Vizhinjam Harbour, Thiruvananthapuram. It is the seventh
Interceptor vessel amongst the series which is built by M/s. L&T Ltd (Larsen & Toubro
Limited), Surat. It is 27.4 metres long and has106 tonnes displacement capacity and can
achieve a maximum speed of 45 knots(83 km/hr).
Russia successfully tests World’s First Floating Nuclear Power Plant named ‘Akademik
Lomonosov’
• The 70 MW ‘Akademik Lomonosov’, world’s first floating nuclear power plant successfully
tested by Rosenergoatom, operator subsidiary of Rosatom, state owned atomic energy
cooperation of Russia. It’s nuclear reactor was developed by OKBM Afrikantov and assembled
by Nizhniy Novgorod Research and Development Institute Atomenergoproekt.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Apps/Portals Launched:
Mobile apps/portal Launched by Purpose

My Circle Bharti Airtel has launched a mobile To assist women in case they
app in collaboration with FICCI face any panic situation or
Ladies Organisation (FLO) problem.
Voter Turnout App Election commission of India To enable the people of India
to watch realtime voter
turnout.After collecting all the
information from officers, it
will be compiled and
displayed in the app.
Money Loji App Money lending platform Money Offers loan to salaried
Loji professionals within 5
minutes with flexible
repayment options starting
from 7 days to a maximum of
90 days. The eligibility
criterion is a minimum in-
hand salary of Rs 20,000 per
month and a minimum age of
23 years.
Satellites:
Satellite Name Country Points to be noted
37 | P a g e
EMISAT India This was the 71st launch vehicle

mission for Sriharikota It is
launched along with 28 co-
passenger satellites.The foreign
satellites consisted of 24 from the
US, two from Lithuania and one
each from Spain and Switzerland.
Tianlian II-01 China It is first second generational data
relay satellite.
Raavana-1 Sri Lanka It’s first satellite of Srilanka.The
satellite measuring 11.3
centimetres (cm) into 10 cm into
10 cm, designed and built at the
Kyushu Institute of Technology,
Japan
NepaliSat-1 Nepal It’s first satellite of Nepal into
space from the Mid-Atlantic
Regional Spaceport at NASA’s
Wallops Flight Facility on
Virginia’s East Shore. It was
launched under the ‘Birds-3
satellite launch to International
Space Station project’.
Other Science and Technology News of National & International

New exoplanet named TOI-197.0 has been discovered by NASA's TESS
• Astronomers have discovered a new exoplanet using NASA’s exoplanet-hunting space
telescope, TESS. The exoplanet is said to be 60 times bigger than our planet and is five-billion-
year-old planet. The exoplanet is dubbed TOI-197.0 or “hot Saturn”. It completes its orbit in 14
days, because the planet is very close to its host star.
CCMB scientists discovered a new enzyme “Murein EndopeptidiaseK” to break the bacteria cell
wall
• The Center for Cell and Molecular Biology (CCMB) scientists have discovered a new enzyme
called "Murein EndopeptidiaseK" while studying the cell growth in bacteria. This new
discovery has paved the way for a new drug treatment that prevents anti-bacterial resistance
by existing antibiotics.
Messaging app WhatsApp unveiled ‘Checkpoint Tipline’ to check authenticity of news
• In order to check the authenticity of information during Lok Sabha Election, Messaging app
WhatsApp unveiled a platform named "Checkpoint Tipline", which can review the content in
the form of pictures, video links or text. This tipline is unveiled by an India-based media
skilling start-up, Proto.
The magnetic field of the Sun is ten times stronger than previously believed by a recent study
• According to a new study by the Queen’s University Belfast and Aberystwyth University, sun’s
corona extends millions of kilometers above the surface about 1,400,000 kilometers across and
150,000,000 kilometers from Earth. For this research, the researchers use the Swedish 1-m
Solar Telescope at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma in the Canary Islands.
Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft drops explosive on asteroid to make crater
• Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA has dropped an explosive from its Hayabusa2
spacecraft. It has successfully blasted the surface of an asteroid for the first time to form a
crater. The mission has paved the way for the collection of underground samples for clues to
the origin of the solar system.
38 | P a g e
South Korea unveils 5G networks early to secure world first

• South Korea has unveiled the world’s first nationwide 5G mobile networks. This has made
South Korea to be the first providers of the super-fast wireless technology. Top 3 telecom
providers namely SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus have began their 5G services on 3rd April.
Scientists have discovered a mechanism named “death switch” in the plant’s immune system
that may yield stronger crops
• Scientists from Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Genetics
and Development Biology have discovered a mechanism named "death switch" in the plant's
immune system that can keep the plant healthy. The research has been published in the journal
named 'Science'.
"chain-melted state" which can be solid and liquid at the same time has discovered
• A new state of matter which can be solid and liquid at the same time has been discovered by
scientists of the University of Edinburgh. he study was led by Dr. Andreas Hermann of the
university’s School of Physics and Astronomy and was published in the journal named
‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This distinct state of matter named as the
"chain-melted state".
Google unveils new Cloud Platform, Anthos
• Google has launched a new open platform named ‘Anthos’ to run and manage apps from
anywhere.It lets users run applications on the public cloud or on existing on-premise
hardware investments. It helps the users to manage workloads running on third-party clouds
like Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS.
First Ever Image of a Black Hole captured by the Astronomers
• Astronomers Captured the First Image of a Black Hole which was a halo of dust and gas, tracing
the outline of a colossal black hole at the center of the galaxy M87 (Messier 87) with the help of
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations. Black holes were first predicted
by Einstein’s theory of relativity.
IIT Madras tied up with GE to set up India’s first ‘Cold Spray’ SMART Lab
• American conglomerate, General Electric in association with IIT Madras, established India’s
first “Cold Spray” SMART (Surface Modification and Additive Research Technologies)
Laboratory in the institution. And thereby IIT-M became the only academic institution with
High-Pressure Cold Spray(HPCS) facility in India. The project is sponsored by "Uchchatar
Avishkar Yojana (UAY) Scheme" of GOI to boost collaboration between academia and private
sector.
SpaceX carries out first commercial launch with Falcon Heavy rocket
• SpaceX carried out its first commercial operational mission by launching its Falcon Heavy
rocket to place a Saudi telecoms satellite into orbit operated by Arabsat. The satellite is
designed to provide television, internet, telephone, and secure communications to customers
in the Middle East.
A new technique "dual PWS" developed by the researchers to study the movement of cells
• A new technique named dual-PWS, has been developed by the researchers to study the
movement of cells without using labels or dyes. The study was published in the journal named
Nature Communications and the paper is named as 'Multimodal interference-based imaging of
nanoscale structure and macromolecular motion uncovers UV induced cellular paroxysm'.
World's largest airplane "Roc" has made its first test flight over California
• The world's largest airplane a Stratolaunch's behemoth named "Roc" has made its first test
flight in California, over the Mojave Desert . An engineering company named ‘Scaled
Composites’ built this airplane for Stratolaunch Systems and was financed by Late Paul Allen
who was the co-founder of Microsoft.
Research study published in: 'Microbiome' states that unique oil-eating bacteria found in
Mariana Trench
• In the Mariana Trench (the deepest part of the Earth’s oceans, approximately 11,000 metres) of
Western Pacific Ocean, scientists have discovered a unique oil-eating bacteria that can help in
39 | P a g e
sustainable ways of cleaning up man-made oil spills. The research has been published in the
journal 'Microbiome'.
Research paper on ‘NASA Twins’ reveals that spaceflight has an effect on the human genome
• A paper on ‘NASA Twins’ has revealed that spaceflight has an effect on the gut microbiome; the
effects however appear to be significant and temporary. The research findings have been
published in the journal named ‘Science’. The twins involved in the study were 2 fifty-year old
astronauts (at the time of the study): Scott Kelly (he flew a 1-year mission aboard the
International Space Station which ended in March 2016) and his twin brother, Mark Kelly who
stayed on Earth while his brother was in orbit.
China develops world's first armed amphibious drone boat 'Marine Lizard'
• The world’s first armed amphibious drone boat named "Marine Lizard", which is guided by
China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System has been successfully tested by China. The drone
ship has been built by Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group under China Shipbuilding
Industry Corporation (CSIC). It could be used in land and sea assault operations.
First Earth-Size planet: HD 21749b discovered by NASA’s TESS Exoplanet Mission
• The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered an Earth-sized planet, HD
21749b and a “sub-Neptune” world, revolving around the star, HD 21749. The star lies 53 light-
years from Earth. The research study has been published in ‘The Astrophysical Journal Letters’.
Published in Nano Energy: Researchers at UCLA created 3D-device ‘snow-TNG’ that produces
electricity from snowfall
• The researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), US created a 3D-printed
device named “Snow Tribo electric nano generator” that can produce electricity from falling
snow. The research study was published in the journal ‘Nano Energy‘ and UCLA’s Richard
Kaner is the senior author of it.
Scientists Developed a New Novel Sensor to Detect Dangerous Chemicals
• Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US have manufactured a tiny
spectrometer that can be used in smartphone-sized devices to identify dangerous chemicals
based on a unique “fingerprint” of emitted and absorbed light. The study has been published in
the Journal Nature Communications. This single shot spectrometer has an advanced capability
called hyperspectral imaging, i.e, the device can collect every information about each individual
pixel in an image to identify materials.
NASA Chooses SpaceX to Launch First Ever Asteroid-Walloping Mission in 2021
• SpaceX, a private Aerospace company, will provide launch services for NASA's Double Asteroid
Redirection Test (DART) mission, the first-ever mission to redirect an asteroid. DART mission,
$69 million contract, will blast off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base,
California in June 2021.In October 2022, the spacecraft will smash into "Didymoon," the 540-
foot-wide (165 meters) satellite of Didymos,a near-Earth asteroid.
NASA selected Person of Indian Origin (PIO) Keshav Raghvan to lead the team CubeSat
• NASA has chosen a team led by an Indian American student, Keshav Raghvan to have its
CubeSat which is a mini research satellite to be sent to space to detect cosmic rays. The team's
CubeSat BLAST (Bouchet Low-Earth Alpha/Beta Space Telescope) is named after physicist
Edward A Bouchet who was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in America. He led the
researchers from the Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association (YUAA).
Third Transiting Planet in the Kepler-47 Circumbinary System named "Kepler-47d" has been
discovered
• A group of researchers, led by astronomers at San Diego State University, by using data from
NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, detected the new Neptune-to-Saturn size planet orbiting
between two previously known planets Kepler-47b and Kepler-47c. This new planet named as
Kepler-47d. The research was recently published in the Astronomical Journal.
40 | P a g e
Researchers improve Lithium-ion battery performance to charge them faster, by substituting

cobalt oxide with vanadium disulfide (VS2)
• A new method to build better performing Lithium-ion batteries that can be charged faster has
been discovered by a team of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York,
including Dr. Nikhil Koratkar of Indian-origin. The team substituted lithium cobalt oxide with
vanadium disulfide (VS2) to enhance battery performance. The new research has been
published in the journal 'Nature Communications'.
Helium hydride ion (HeH+) : Universe's first molecule, formed 14 billion years ago, detected in
space
• Scientists have discovered the most ancient type of molecule in our universe, Helium Hydride
ion (HeH+) in space, which supports the theories, assumed to have formulated the universe
after the Big Bang Theory. This positive ion is considered the first molecule in the universe
formed 380,000 years after the big bang (Era : Recombination Epoch) and is regarded as the
first Molecular Bond. The latest news was published by Journal Nature.
The researchers of IIT Roorkee identify a new method to detect breast, ovarian cancer
• The Research team led by Kiran Ambatipudi from the Biotechnology Department at the Indian
Institute of Technology, Roorkee has identified a new method to detect breast and ovarian
cancer with the help of saliva. The research published in the journal, ‘FASEB Bioadvances’.
US scientists used HIV to make gene therapy that cured eight infants of "bubble boy" disease
• US researchers have used HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) to develop a gene therapy
that cured 8 infants who were treated at St. Jude and at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, San
Francisco of a rare combined immunodeficiency disease termed as "bubble boy" disorder. The
study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Rating agency ICRA Projects 7-7.5 GW Solar Power Capacity Addition In 2019-20
• Rating agency ICRA (Investment Information & Credit Rating Agency) has estimated 7-7.5 GW
solar power capacity addition in 2019-20, which includes 1 GW of rooftop solar based on
tendering and awards of projects in the last 12-15 months.
NASA revealed that Mercury has a massive solid inner core
• NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has revealed that both Mercury,
the smallest planet in the solar system, and the Earth have metallic cores and like Earth,
Mercury’s outer core is of liquid metal. The findings of Mercury’s solid inner core are published
in AGU's (American Geophysical Union) journal Geophysical Research Letters.
CMR has released guidelines for Candida auris, multi-drug resistant yeast, which causes fatal
invasive infections
• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has issued guidelines for Candida auris, multi-drug
resistant yeast that causes fatal invasive infections. Since 2009, the infection has been reported
worldwide. Candida auris (C. auris) is an uncommon fungus that can cause serious
bloodstream, wound and ear infections.
Researchers discovered how lifestyle affects genes
• Researchers at the Lund University Diabetes Centre, Sweden, have discovered how lifestyle
affects genes and disease development in a human body in a new study called 'Epigenetic
Mechanisms'. The details of the study were published in journal Cell Metabolism.
World’s first Malaria vaccine launched in Malawi
• The world’s first malaria vaccine RTS,S is also known as Mosquirix has launched in Malawi, one
of three countries in Africa in a landmark pilot programme coordinated by the World Health
Organisation (WHO). The other two African countries are Ghana and Kenya. This vaccine has
created by British Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 1987 and after that vaccine
has undergone 30 years of testing which was supported by many organizations including a
non-profit organization PATH.
First 'marsquake' detected by NASA lander InSight
• Mars InSight lander of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has recorded
first “marsquake,” quake on the mars due to volcanic eruptions or land tides. The first faint
41 | P a g e
signal was equal to a 2.5 magnitude earthquake. It has been detected by lander’s Seismic
Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument.
Japan creates world's 1st artificial crater on asteroid
• Japanese scientists have successfully created the first-ever artificial crater on an asteroid,
which gave some clue on how the solar system evolved. Hayabusa2 space probe shot a
projectile at the Ryugu asteroid around 340 million kilometers from Earth, as part of the
probe's mission to explore the origin of life and the evolution of the solar system.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope confirm universe is expanding faster than expected
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Hubble Space Telescope ejected
measurements validating that the Universe is expanding about 9% faster than expected based
on its trajectory seen shortly after the big bang. It was published in Astrophysical Journal
Letters. The researchers using Hubble as a "point-and-shoot" camera to look at groups of
Cepheids using a new method called DASH (Drift And Shift).
Scientists developed Ultrasensitive Quantum Thermometer
• Researchers at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, have developed an ultrasensitive quantum
thermometer by using graphene quantum dots. It can precisely measure a wide range of
temperature from 27 degree C to –196 degree C. The The results of the study were published in
the journal Nanoscale Advances.
Two satellites named Tianhui II-01 launched by China
• China launched two Tianhui II-01 satellites from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, also known
as Base 25. The purpose of the satellite is to perform scientific experiments, land resource and
geographic survey, and mapping.
IIT Madras team develops easy OCR system for reading documents in Bharati script containing
nine Indian languages
• The research team from IIT Madras headed by Professor V. Srinivasa Chakravathy has used a
multi-lingual Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scheme to develop a method for reading
documents in Bharati script. The Bharati script is a conglomeration of 9 Indian languages,
namely, Devnagari, Bengali, Gurmukhi, Gujarati, Oriya, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil.
Flipkart-owned PhonePe launched new keyboard for secure and easy transaction
• Flipkart-owned PhonePe, digital payments platform having over 150 million users in India is
the first company to launch a special keyboard that will allow users to do transactions easily
and securely while using their Android phone. The transactions include sending and requesting
money, checking account balance and inviting friends and family to explore the PhonePe
platform and use cases on any phone where a keyboard is required.
ENVIRONMENT
India's "Hump-backed mahseer", freshwater fish added in "Critically Endangered" list

• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species added
hump-backed mahseer ,also known as ‘Tor remadevii’ or ‘tiger of water’ in critically
endangered species list. It is freshwater fish endemic to the Western Ghats of South India and
only found in Kaveri River basins.
Two new birds spotted in North Kerala’s Aralam sanctuary during a recent bird survey
• The Woolly-necked Stork and White-bellied Drongo, both dry-land species of birds have been
spotted in North Kerala’s Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary during The 19th bird survey. The survey
was conducted jointly by the forest and wildlife department and the Malabar Natural History
Society (MNHS).
Prehistoric fossil of a 40 million-year-old whale found in Peru
• A 40 million-year-old fossil of a whale-with-four-legs, webbed feet and hooves has been
excavated by palaeontologists from the marine sediments inland from Peru’s Pacific coast at
42 | P a g e
Playa Media Luna. The 13 feet long mammal has been named as "Peregocetus pacificus". The
findings have been published in the scientific journal Current Biology.
Phayeng Village of Manipur tagged as India’s first carbon-positive settlement
• Phayeng, a scheduled caste village of the Chakpa community in Imphal West district of Manipur
has been tagged as India’s first carbon-positive settlement. Also, it has been revived from the
funding under National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC), which is a central
scheme launched in 2015-16 to support adaptation for climate change impact in various states.
Earth’s CO2 levels reached 410 ppm, highest in 3 million years
• Germany scientists have warned that there is more Carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere
than in the past three million years. The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has gone
“unnatural”. Research was made by using a new computer simulation at the Potsdam Institute
for Climate Impact Research in Germany.
Meteorological Department issues 'Yellow' weather warning for Himachal Pradesh
• The Meteorological Department issued a yellow weather warning for rain in Himachal Pradesh
by forecasting thunderstorm with hail in isolated places over the state. Code color yellow is
the least dangerous weather warning which indicates the possibility of severe weather over
the next few days that could affect people.
A group of jumping spiders spotted for the first time in Ernakulam’s Illithodu forests, Kerala
• A new species of jumping spiders named "Habrocestum longispinum" has been spotted in
Ernakulam’s Illithodu forests, Kerala by the arachnologists from Kochi’s Sacred Heart College,
Thevara. This new species belong to the genus Habrocestum, is being found in Eurasia and
Africa.
Periyar river in Kerala turns black
• Kerala's Periyar River has turned black near the Pathalam Regulator cum Bridge. This
discolouration of Periyar and fish kills have been a serious issue for last couple of years. About
hundred Indian anchovies (Kozhuva) fishes were found dead along the banks of the Muttar
river, a tributary of the Periyar.
Rs 100-crore penalty imposed on Andhra Pradesh Govt. by National Green Tribunal (NGT)
• National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a penalty of Rs 100 crore on the Andhra
Pradesh government for illegal sand mining in the state. Penalty has been imposed on the lines
of plea filed by Andhra Pradesh resident Anumolu Gandhi, alleging illegal sand mining was
causing damage to Krishna, Godavari rivers and their tributaries in the state.
The death toll from destructive Cyclone Idai rises above 1,000
• The death toll from the cyclone idai that crashed southeast Africa last month has risen above
1000, while more than 4000 cholera cases and seven deaths from the illness reported.The
Cyclone hit Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi on March 14. It is the second-deadliest
tropical cyclone recorded in the South-West Indian Ocean basin, after 1892 Mauritius cyclone.
Scientists have discovered "Homo luzonensis", a previously unknown species of humans in
Philippines
• The archaeologists unearthed the remains of at least 2 adults and 1 juvenile (a species of Homo
luzonensis) within the archaeological deposits in the Philippines. This discovery has been
published in Nature, an International journal of science. The new species, Homo luzonensis is
named after Luzon Island, the largest island of Philippines.
Last known female of Yangtze giant softshell turtle dies in China zoo
• The last known female member of Yangtze giant softshell turtle, 90 years old, died in Suzhou
Zoo, China. Now, there are only three left in the world. The Wildlife Conservations Society
(WCS) declares the Yangtze giant softshell turtle the world's most critically endangered turtle
species.
NASA spotted lakes filled with Methane on Saturn's moon Titan
• NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Cassini spacecraft has made an
incredible observation about the extraordinary deep lakes filled with methane in the Saturn's
moon, Titan. This new study has been published in the scientific journal Astronomy.
43 | P a g e
Scientists unearth 220 million year old dinosaurs fossils in San Juan province
• In San Juan province, western Argentina, scientists from University of San Juan have
discovered a site containing fossils of nearly a dozen dinosaurs.It is 220 million year old and
belonging to an unknown era.They were found at the Ischigualasto National Park.
UN List Bhopal Gas Tragedy as one of the world’s ‘Major Industrial Accident’ in 20th century
• UN labour agency International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its recent report titled “The
Safety and the Health at the Heart of the Future of Work- Building on 100 years of Experience”
termed Bhopal Gas Tragedy as one of the world’s ‘major industrial accident’ which killed more
than 15,000 people due to the result of at least 30 tons of highly toxic Methyl Isocyanate (MIC)
gas leak in Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal in 1984.
A new species of East Asian birds 'Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo' (Chalcites basalis) have been
spotted at Andaman And Nicobar.
• ‘Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo’ (Chalcites basalis) is a native of Australia and New Guinea.
According to Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) sighting of these birds have increased ever since
the 2004 Indonesian tsunami. The tiny bird measures roughly about 15 cm and weighs 22 g.
They are differentiated by their green and black feathers at their back.
Two new bird species found on Indonesian islands
• Zoologists at Trinity College Dublin have discovered two new bird species named as the
Wakatobi white-eye (Zosterops Chloris flavissimus)and the Wangi-Wangi white-eye in the
Wakatobi Archipelago of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Details of their discovery were published in the
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Callichimaeraperplexa: New 95 million-year-old ‘cartoon-eyed’ crab species found in Columbia
• Alberta University paleontologists have discovered 95 million-year-old coin-sized ‘cartoon-
eyed’ crab species called Callichimaera perplexa. It was published it in the journal, Science
Advances. It is believed that the crab is from mid-cretaceous period & it must have hailed from
what is now Colombia, Northern Africa & Wyoming.
UN: Humans Put 1 Million Species at Risk of Extinction

• According to a draft United Nations report, which is to be published on 6 May 2019 in Agence
France-Presse (AFP), up to one million world species are at risk of extinction due to human
activity. The 44-page draft report has summarized 1,800-page U.N. assessment of scientific
literature on the state of nature. On 29th April 2019, it will vet in a 130 nations meeting in
Paris, France.
SPORTS
Sports/Tournament/Title Winner Points to be Noted

Bahrain Grand Prix 2019 Lewis Hamilton of Mercede's Valtteri Bottas of
Mercedes Finland ranked second position.
Chinese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton
23rd edition of Asian Athletics Bahrain (BHR) won 22 India won 17 medals which
Championship held at the Khalifa medals include 3 gold, 7 silver and 7
International Stadium in Doha, bronze. Gomathi Marimuthu wins
Qatar gold in women’s 800m race.
Tejinder Pal Singh Toor wins gold
in men’s shot put. PU Chitra wins
gold in women’s 1500m
race. Click here to read the
entire winners.
Arjan Singh Memorial ICF ICF, Chennai beat South Central
International hockey tournament at (Integrated Coach Factory Railway, Hyderabad
44 | P a g e
the Astro Turf Hockey Ground at Air ),Chennai

Force in Chandigarh.
Asian Snooker Tour title, in Pankaj Advani He defeated Ehsan Heydari
Bengaluru Nezhad of Iran
Virgin Money London Marathon Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya Nitendra Singh Rawat finished
2019 at London, UK 27th
Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2019 in Baku, Valtteri Viktor Bottas Top 5 rank:
Azerbaijan (Finland) of Mercedes 1. Valtteri Viktor Bottas
2. Hamilton
3. Sebastian Vettel
4. Max Verstappen
Asian Wrestling Championship Iran topped the medal India won 16 medals which
2019 held in Xi’an, China tally by winning 11 gold include 1 gold, 3 silver and 4
and 6 Bronze.It is bronze by men’s freestyle
followed by China, Japan. wrestlers. Bajrang Punia bags
gold in 65-kg Category
Asian Road Para-Cycling Indian para cyclists won a Divij Shah has clinched silver
Championships 2019 was held in silver and two bronze medal in the C5 category.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan medals GurlalSingh, became the only
Indian cyclist (able-bodied or
otherwise) to win a medal at the
Asian Games level grabbed a
bronze in the C4 section.Sudhakar
Marathe, a Hand cyclist from
Maharashtra has claimed bronze
for India in H5 category.
Asian Weightlifting Championships Overall medal tally was India won 5 medals which include
2019 held in Ningbo, China clinched by China. 3 silver and 2 bronze medals,
finished tenth place in the
tournament.Click here to read
the winners.
ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup 2019 India has topped the Gold:
held in Beijing, China medal tally.India won 4 10m Air Rifle Mixed-Anjum
medals which include 3 Moudgil Divyansh Singh Panwar,
gold and 1 silver. 10m Air Pistol Mixed-Manu
Bhaker Saurabh Chaudhary, 10m
Air Pistol-Abhishek Verma,
Silver:
10m Air Rifle-Divyansh Singh
Panwar.
Badminton
2019 India Open which is officially Men’s Singles-Viktor Women’s Singles-Ratchanok
known as YONEX-SUNRISE India Axelsen (Denmark) Intanon (Thailand), Men’s
Open 2019 Doubles-Lee Yang (Taiwan) and
Wang Chi-lin (Taiwan),Women’s
Doubles-Greysia Polii (Indonesia)
and Apriyani Rahayu (Indonesia),
Mixed Doubles-Wang Yilu (China)
and Huang Dongping (China).
2019 Malaysia Open Men’s Singles- Lin Dan Women’s Singles- Tai Tzu-Ying
(China) (Chinese Taipei), Men’s Doubles-
Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen (China,
45 | P a g e
Women’s Doubles- Chen Qingchen

and Jia Yifan (China), Mixed
Doubles- Zheng Siwei and Huang
Yaqiong (China).
39th edition of Badminton Asia Men’s Single- Kento Women’s Single by Akane
Championship at the Wuhan Sports Momota (Japan) Yamaguchi (Japan), Men’s
Center Gymnasium in Wuhan, China Doubles- Hiroyuki Endo
(Japan)&Yuta Watanabe (Japan),
Women’s Doubles- Chen Qingchen
(China) & Jia Yifan (China), Mixed
Doubles- Wang Yilu (China)
Huang Dongping (China)
Boxing
Cologne Boxing World Cup 2019 Meena Kumari Maisnam Sakshi and Pwilao Basumatary
clinched Gold medal clinched Silver medals, Pinki Rani
and Parveen clinched Bronze
medals.
Asian Boxing Championship 2019 India finished with 13 Boxer Amit Panghal won gold
held in Huamark Indoor Stadium in medals that include 2 medal in 52-kg category & Pooja
Bangkok, Thailand. gold medals, 4 silver Rani won gold medal in 81-kg
medals and 7 bronze category.Click here to read the
medals. entire medal winners.
Cricket
ICC Test Championship India It has also won the purse of USD 1
million. India has been followed
by New Zealand and South Africa.
Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mark Boucher: inducted by MCC as honorary life members for outstanding
achievements in cricket.
USA secure ODI status for the first time
Ajinkya Rahane becomes 1st Indian cricketer to join Hampshire
Shane Watson retires from Big Bash League
Australia’s Claire Polosak became first female umpire to stand in men’s ODI
Papua New Guinea got ODI status after USA and Oman
Football
FIFA world football rankings- Belgium stayed on top spot
Stephanie Frappart first woman to referee Ligue 1 match
FIFA bans football players for Life over Match-Fixing- Ibrahim Kargbo, Keyeno Thomas, George
Owino Audi, Kudzanai Shaba, Kudzanai Shaba were suspended from all football-related activities.
Tennis
2019 Miami Open which was the Mens’ Single-Roger Women’s Single-Ashleigh Barty
35th edition of Miami Open Federer (Switzerland) (Australia), Men’s Double-Bob
Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan
(USA), Women’s Doubles-Elise
Mertens (Belgium) and Aryna
Sabalenka (Belarus)
2019 Monterrey Open aka 2019 Garbine Muguruza of The prize money of the
Abierto GNP Seguros Spain successfully claimed tournament was $250,000.
back-to-back Monterrey
Open title by defeating
Victoria Azarenka
Barcelona Open 2019, also known Men’s Single- Dominic Men's Doubles- Juan Sebastian
as Open Banc Sabadell in Barcelona, Thiem Cabal and Robert Farah
46 | P a g e
Catalonia, Spain
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Women’s Singles-Kvitova Women’s doubles- Mona Barthel
2019 held in Porsche Arena in beat Kontaveit & Anna-Lena Friedsam
Stuttgart, Germany
Shooting
12th Asian Airgun Championship India topped the medal Manu Bhaker & Saurabh
10m, Rifle/Pistol tally by winning 25 medals Chaudhary Smash qualification
viz, 16 gold, 5 silver and 4 world record in 10m Air Pistol
bronze medals Mixed Team Match.Click here to
read the winner list.
Other Sports News
Saurav Ghosal- first Indian male squash player to break into the top 10 of the latest PSA (Professional
Squash Association) world ranking.
For the 4th consecutive time, the Northern Command based in Udhampur has won the 15th edition
of General J J Singh air weapon championship, held at Army Marksmanship Unit, Mhow in Madhya
Pradesh.
Graham Reid-appointed as- Chief Coach of Indian men’s hockey team. . He succeeds Harendra
Singh,former Indian Hockey player.
Dave Bautista has officially retired from wrestling
Dream11 becomes India's first billion-dollar gaming Startup
Manpreet Kaur banned for 4 years for Failing Dope tests
Indian women’s Hockey team won Malaysia series by 4-0
BOOKS & AUTHORS
Book Name Author Other Information

“#Modi Again: Why Aabhas Maldahiyar The Indian Publishing company, Garuda
Modi is right for India, Prakashan Private Limited, launched the
An Ex-Communist’s book.
Manifesto”
“Saffron Swords: Manoshi Sinha Rawal The Indian Publishing company, Garuda
Centuries of Indic Prakashan Private Limited, launched the
Resistance to Invaders” book.
"Kundan: Saigal’s Life & Sharad Dutt Kundanlal Saigal was an Indian singer and
Music" actor who is considered the first superstar
of the Hindi film industry.
'Selected speeches of It was released by Prasar Bharati
Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Chairman, A Surya Prakash.Ambedkar was
in the Constituent architect of the Constitution of India and
Assembly’ also the independent India's first law
minister.
“Diary of an Awesome Jeff Kinney The book is written from the opinion of
Friendly Kid: Rowley Rowley Jefferson, the best friend of ‘Diary
Jefferson’s Journal” of a Wimpy Kid’ supporter Greg Heffley.
Khooni Vaisakhi Mr. Suri A book containing English translation of the
100 year old classic Punjabi poem about
Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Indian constitution in Prof Stephen Quadros Has translated the book in Konkani. The
Konkani Permude Mangaluru Bishop Peter Paul Saldanha has
released the book.
47 | P a g e
Politics of Jugaad: The Journalist Saba Naqvi She examines the possibility of a coalition
Coalition Handbook government after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls
Chequered Brilliance: Former union minister and A biography of Indian nationalist, diplomat,
The Many Lives of V K writer Jairam Ramesh and politician V K Krishna Menon.This book
Krishna Menon will be released in first quarter of 2020.
OBITUARY
NATIONAL
Name of the person Field/State Points to be noted
who passed away
Navtej Hundal Actor/ Maharashtra He was well know after the film “Uri: The
Surgical Strike"
J. Mahendran Director, Screenwriter and Mahendran was born on 25th July 1939 in
actor/Tamil Nadu Ilaiyangudi, Madurai.
Ms.KismatSagar Director/ Mumbai She was 1998 Batch Indian Information Service
Officer.
Dr. Viharidas Gopaldas Economist/Gujarat He was the Founder & Director of
Patel Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India
(EDII) and was honoured with the Padma Shri in
2017 for his contribution to development of
entrepreneurship in India. He is also known as
‘Father of Entrepreneurship Movement’
Pungam Kannan Footballer/Tamil Nadu P. Kannan was born in Vandavasi, Tamil Nadu.
The esteemed German coach, Dettmar Cramer
had given Kannan the title of ‘Pele of Asia’ in
1968.
Rama Sengupta Paul Mountaineer/West Bengal She led the first successful all-women expedition
to Kedarnath Dome in Garhwal Himalaya
Pradeep Choubey Poet/ Maharashtra He was also suffering from cancer
Holkhomang Haokip Politician/Manipur He was a leader of the Kuki community (of
North-east India) and being elected to the 13th
Lok Sabha (in 1999). He was a former Member of
Parliament.
KM Mani Politician/Kerala He was the only politician who has been elected
from the same constituency for 13 consecutive
elections.
Drupad Borgohain Politician/Assam He was a Rajya Sabha member between 1998
and 2004 and served as a legislator from Nazira
constituency from 2006-2011 in the Assam
assembly.
Paripooranand Painuli Politician/ Delhi He was elected to the 5th Lok Sabha in 1971.
ChaudharyVidyasagar Politician/ Himachal He was elected four times as MLA from Kangra
Pradesh assembly constituency.
SK Shivakumar Scientist/ Bengaluru The Padma shree awardee was a part of team
which had developed telemetry system for
India’s first moon mission Chandrayan – I.
Amar Paul Singer/Kolkata He was awarded by Sangeet Natak Akademi
48 | P a g e
Award for his contribution to the folk music of

West Bengal.
INTERNATIONAL
Name of the person Field/Country Points to be noted
who passed away
Nadja Regin Actress/Serbia She appeared in two Bond films “From Russia with
Love” and “Goldfinger”.
Jerrie Cobb Astronaut/ Florida She became the first woman to pass astronaut
testing in 1961. Total 13 women passed the
physical testing and became known as the Mercury
13. She was born on 5th March 1931, in Norman,
Oklahoma.
Sydney Brenner Biologist/ South Africa Brenner made contributions to work on the nature
of genetic code and other areas of molecular
biology.
Elriesa Theunissen- Cricketer/ South Africa She represented South Africa in four internationals
Fourie – three ODIs and one T20I match of 2013 ICC
Women’s Cricket World Cup squad.
PatrickRousseau Cricketer/Jamaica He was former president of West Indies cricket
Board (WICB), from 1996 to 2001,and Jamaican
Attorney at law has died in Jamaica.
Con de Lange Cricketer/ South Africa He was a slow left-armer and middle-order
batsman. He was born in Bellville, Cape Province,
South Africa.
John Singleton Director/ United States He was the youngest-ever film-maker to be
nominated for the best director Oscar and know
for the film Boyz n the Hood.
Terry Rawlings Editor/ England He was nominated for BAFTA awards for his work
on ‘Alien’ in 1980 & ‘Blade Runner’ in 1983 as well
as Oscar nomination for ‘Chariots of Fire’ in 1982.
Tommy Smith Footballer/ United He was famously nicknamed the ‘Anfield Iron’
Kingdom
Arie Irawan Golfer/Malaysia He was passed away by ‘apparent natural causes’
Lorraine Warren Paranormal investigator/ She investigated haunted houses and other
Monroe, Connecticut manifestation of paranormal activities throughout
her life
Alan Garcia Politician/ Peru He served two terms as Peru’s president, from
1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011, shot himself
in his bedroom at his home in Lima
Grand Duke Jean Politician/ Luxembourg In 1963, he became the sixth Grand Duke of
Luxembourg.
Negasso Gidada President/Ethiopia He was the president between 1995 and 2001 and
was the first head of state after Ethiopia adopted a
new constitution transforming country into a
federal state.
Mark Medoff Writer/ New Mexico He won Olivier and Tony awards for writing
‘Children of a Lesser God’. The screen adaptation
of "Children of a Lesser God" earned an Oscar
nomination.
49 | P a g e
IMPORTANT DAYS
Observed Day Other information

date/week
1st April Odisha Day is also known The day is celebrated to commemorate the sacrifices of
as “Utkal Divas” people for the formation of Odisha province in 1936.
2nd April World Autism Awareness The theme for 2019 was “Assistive Technologies, Active
Day (WAAD) Participation”.
4th April International Mine Theme - “United nations promotes SDGs –Safe Ground
Awareness Day –Safe Home” (SDG –Sustainable Development Goals)
5th April National Maritime day The theme - "Indian Ocean- An Ocean of Opportunity".
7th April World Health Day Theme - "Universal health Coverage: Everyone,
Everywhere" under the WHO slogan "Health for All".
1st to 7th April Prevention of Blindness Prevention of Blindness Week was launched by
Week Jawaharlal Nehru and Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur, under
Societies Registration Act of 1860.
7th April to 14th National Handloom week On this occasion, a book named ‘The Indian textile
April Sourcebook’ authored by Avalon Fotheringham and
published by Thames and Hudson will launch on 9th
April.
7th April Platinum Jubilee The commemoration day was observed to honour the
Commemoration of the supreme sacrifice made by the courageous Ordnance
Battle of Kangla Tongbi Personnel of 221 Advance Ordnance Depot in the line
of duty during the night of 6/ 7 April 1944 (during
World War-II). It was fought against Japanese forces.
7th April International Day of The day commemorates the slaughter of 800,000
Reflection on the 1994 people (where Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed
Rwanda Genocide by members of the army, militias, and civilians of the
Hutu community) for a period of 100 days during the
1994 genocide in Rwanda in central Africa.
8th April International Roma Day It brings into limelight the grave fact about the 6
2019 million Romani people (living in the EU, European
Union) and 4 million living in the enlargement region
(Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia
and Herzegovina.
9th April 54th Valour Day of To Pay Tribute to Martyrs of police at the National
Central Reserve Police Police Memorial in New Delhi. On this day, President
Force (CRPF) Ram Nath Kovind launched Veer Parivar App for
assistance to the next of kin of the CRPF martyrs.
10th April World Homoeopathy Day Theme - "Linking Education and Clinical Practice with
2019 Research: Advancing Scientific Collaborations".
11th April National Safe Motherhood Theme - "Midwives for Mothers"
Day 2019
12th April International Day of This day is also celebrated as ‘Cosmonautics Day’ in
Human Space Flight Russia since 1963.
12th April World Aviation and On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin
Cosmonautics Day 2019 carried out the famous flight in spacecraft Vostok 1
started from Baikonur Cosmodrome.
10th to 16th April 64th Railway Week 2019 During this, the Running Efficiency Shield was
presented to Stationery and O&M Branches (joint
50 | P a g e
winners) which were selected as "Best Maintained

Branch" of the Railway Board
13th April Rajouri Day 2019 The Year 2019 is being celebrated as the ‘Year of Next
of Kin’ to help families of martyrs.
7th to 13th April World Allergy Week 2019 Theme - "The Global Problem of Food Allergy".
13th April 100th anniversary To celebrate the harvest festival of Baisakhi and to
Jallianwallah Bagh protest against the Rowlatt Act. On that event, troops of
Massacre also known as the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel
the Amritsar massacre Dyer opened fire at the people.
17th April Bangladesh celebrated To commemorate the formation of a provisional
Mujeebnagar Day government in Baidyanathtala, (later renamed as
Mujibnagar) Meherpur in 1971 of independent
Bangladesh.
17th April World Hemophilia Day Theme- ‘Outreach and Identification’
18th April World Heritage Day 2019 Theme-"Rural Landscapes"
19th April World Liver Day 2019 This day is meant to raise awareness about liver and
following a lifestyle which supports liver health. As per
World Health Organisation (WHO), liver diseases are
10th most common cause of death in India.
19th April Good Friday also known The day is observed every year in honor and
as Holy Friday or Black remembrance of Jesus's Crucifixion and Christians
Friday believe Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and rose
again three days later which is marked as Easter.
21st April World Creativity and The United Nations (UN) recognized 21st April as an
Innovation Day 2019 official World Creativity and Innovation Day and 2018
marks the first year the UN was observed WCID.
21st April Secretary’s day or Admin To recognize the work of secretaries, receptionists,
Day administrative assistants, and other administrative
support professionals.
21st April National Civil Service Day The function was organized by the Department of
Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances and
Pensions during which PM gave “Prime Minister Award
for Excellence in Public Administration”
22nd April Global Earth Day 2019 Theme for 2019 was Protecting Our Species
14th to 20th April National Fire Service Theme : "Fire Prevention is better than Fire Fighting".
Week
22nd April International Mother United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has passed a
Earth Day resolution and This year marked the 10th anniversary
of International Mother Earth Day.
23rd April World Book and Also known as World Book Day. This year Sharjah, UAE
Copyright Day has been selected as a World Book Capital for 2019.
24th April National Panchayati Raj The Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 that
Day (NPRD) came into force on 24th April 1993 has vested
constitutional status on Panchayati Raj institutions
24th April World Day for Animals in The adjoining week is known as “World Week for
Laboratories also known Animals in Laboratories” (WWAIL) which is observed
as World Lab Animal Day from April 21-28.
24th April International Day of To promote the day, the UN General Assembly
Multilateralism and convened a one-day high-level plenary meeting on the
Diplomacy for Peace same day.
51 | P a g e
24th -30th April World Immunization Theme : “Protected Together: Vaccines Work”
Week
25th April World Malaria Day Theme : “Zero malaria starts with me”
25th April International Girls in ICT A specialized agency of UN i.e. International
(Information and Telecommunication Union (ITU) and 171 countries
Communications celebrate this day worldwide. The aim is to bridge the
Technology) Day gender digital divide.
27th April World Veterinary Day Theme : 'Value of Vaccination'.
28th April World Day for Safety and Theme : “Safety and Health and the Future of Work”.
Health at Work
29th April International Dance Day Theme : "Dance and Spirituality"
30th April International Jazz Day The day was designated in 2011 by UNESCO.
AffairsCloud Recommends Oliveboard Mock Test

RBI Grade B 2019: Live Class + Practice
SBI Clerk 2019: Live Class + Practice
SBI PO 2019: Take 30 Tests, 1 Free
Railways RRB JE 2019: Take 15 Tests, 1 Free
SSC CGL: 50 Tests (30 Tier I + 20 Tier II)
Good Luck with Your Exams!!!
Suggestions are welcomed; Contact us any time

at affairscloud@gmail.com
AC Useful Links:
 Current Affairs
 Current Affairs 2019
 Current Affairs in Hindi
 Current Affairs Quiz
 Current Affairs Today
52 | P a g e

Affairs Cloud April 2019

Transféré par

Informations du document

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Affairs Cloud April 2019

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Current Affairs Pocket PDF

Current Affairs Pocket PDF – APRIL 2019

AffairsCloud Recommends Oliveboard Mock Test

RBI Grade B 2019: Live Class + Practice

SBI Clerk 2019: Live Class + Practice

SBI PO 2019: Take 30 Tests, 1 Free

Railways RRB JE 2019: Take 15 Tests, 1 Free

SSC CGL: 50 Tests (30 Tier I + 20 Tier II)

STATE WISE NATIONAL NEWS

Jammu and Kashmir

Other Important National Affairs

Visual aids for disabled CBSE students from 2020

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI makes NPA divergence rule easier for banks

Loans issued by banks/others

Ltd equipment under a new agreement.

Other Important Banking & Finance News

BUSINESS & ECONOMY NEWS

Organization Year Rate

Asia Development Bank 2019-20 7.2%

World Economic Outlook (WEO) 2019 7.3% . 7.5% in 2020.

Monetary Fund (IMF)

World Bank 2019-20 7.5 %.The real GDP growth is

Fitch kept India’s rating unchanged at BBB- with Stable outlook

Non-Core assets needed to be sold by CPSEs in a notice period of 12 months

MOUs/AGREEMENTS COUNTRIES & STATES

4. Tata Consultancy Google Cloud To build industry-specific cloud

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Survey for the Mobile

Davis Malpass President World bank He will succeed Jim Yong-Kim.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Name of Awards Award Winner Field Points to be noted

Second edition of Rana Dasgupta For his 2010 novel "Solo".

Managing India awarded to Azim H Premji, Chairman,

Memorial Pit Crew Award”

UN Mission in South 150 Indian For serving the

Best cinematography award in Beijing Bhayanakam (Fear)

CONFERENCE/SUMMIT IN NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS

9 4th Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific New Delhi It is organised by the

COMMITTEE/MEETING IN NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS

3 NGT(National Green Tribunal) To enforce a national plan to reduce the river

in the 2016 Election

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Acquisitioner/Merger Netvalue(amount) Points to be Noted

Finance under the sub-section (1) of

AUSINDEX 19 India & Australia military Vishakhapatnam, India

Bold Kurukshetra–2019 India and Singapore Jhansi’s Babina Cantonment,

‘Nirbhay’ Chandipur, Odisha Long range sub sonic cruise

based Aeronautical Development

Other News Related to Defence:

COMCASA: First secure link between India, US navies set up

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Mobile apps/portal Launched by Purpose

EMISAT India This was the 71st launch vehicle

Other Science and Technology News of National & International

South Korea unveils 5G networks early to secure world first

Researchers improve Lithium-ion battery performance to charge them faster, by substituting

India's "Hump-backed mahseer", freshwater fish added in "Critically Endangered" list

UN: Humans Put 1 Million Species at Risk of Extinction

Sports/Tournament/Title Winner Points to be Noted

the Astro Turf Hockey Ground at Air ),Chennai

Women’s Doubles- Chen Qingchen

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Book Name Author Other Information