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10 April, 2018 •Labour Secretary M. Sathiavathy

has been appointed to take charge as the new member of the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC).

•She is an IAS officer and was the first woman chief of Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

10 April, 2018 •AIIMS Professor and senior

consultant cardiologist Balram Bhargava has been appointed as the new Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

•He will also hold the post as the Secretary of the Department of Health Research.

10 April, 2018 •Senior IPS officer Rajesh

Ranjan has been appointed as the Director General of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

•This appointment was made by the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

13 April, 2018 •The former bureaucrat Bhanu Prasad Sharma has

been appointed as the Chairman of the Banks Board Bureau (BBB) by the Union Finance Ministry.

•The post was formerly held by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai.

NEW MEMBER OF UPSC

NEW DG OF ICMR

NEW DG OF CISF

NEW ChaIRMaN OF thE BaNk BOaRD BUREaNAPPOINTMENTs

General knowledge timesE-paper

Issue 4 : April 2018 www.goyalsgktimes.com info@goyal-books.com

27 April, 2018 •Indu Malhotra was sworn in as a Judge of Supreme

Court of India.

•She is a reputed senior advocate practising in SC for the past 30 years.

•She joined the legal profession in 1983 and later secured first position in Advocate-on-Record exam for Supreme Court.

•In 2007, she became the second woman to be designated as senior advocate by SC only after legendary Justice Leila Seth, who was given this honour way back in 1977.

•She became the first woman Judge to be elevated directly from the Bar.

INDU MaLhOtRa IS INDIa’S FIRSt WOMaN SUPREME COURt JUDGE

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28 April, 2018 •Sitanshu Yashaschandra was

selected for 2017 Saraswati Samman for his collection of verses (poetry) titled Vakhar published in 2009.

•He is a Gujarati poet, playwright and academic.

•He has three poetry collections — Odysseusnu Halesu, Jatayu, and Vakhar to his credit.

•He has penned 10 plays and three books on critical analysis.

•He is also a recipient of the Padma Shri and Sahitya Akademi Award.

18 April, 2018 •The Pulitzer Prizes 2018

given for the year 2017 were announced.

•Journalism Public Service: New York Times. Breaking News Reporting: Staff of The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif. Investigative Reporting: The Washington Post, Explanatory Reporting: The Arizona Republic and USA Today Network. Local Reporting: The Cincinnati Enquirer Staff National Reporting: New York Times and Washington Post International Reporting: Clare Baldwin, Andrew R.C. Marshall and Manuel Mogato of Reuters, Feature Writing: Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, freelance reporter, GQ Commentary: John Archibald of Alabama Media Group, Birmingham, Ala. Criticism: Jerry Saltz of New York magazine Editorial Writing: Andie Dominick of The Des Moines Register. Editorial Cartooning: Jake Halpern, freelance writer and Michael Sloan, freelance cartoonist, New York Times. Breaking News Photography: Ryan Kelly of The Daily Progress Feature Photography: Photography Staff of Reuterrs.

•Letters, Drama & Music Fiction: Less, by Andrew Sean Greer. Drama: Cost of Living, by Martyna Majok. History: The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea by Jack E. Davis (Liveright/W.W. Norton). Biography or Autobiography: Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, by Caroline Fraser,. Poetry: Half-light: Collected Poems 1965-2016, by Frank Bidart. General Nonfiction: Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Jr. Music:, by Kendrick Lamar.

SaRaSWatI SaMMaN 2017

PULItZER PRIZES aNNOUNCED

14 April, 2018 •The Ministry of Information

and Broadcasting announced Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2017.

•The 2017 award has been conferred posthumously on actor Vinod Khanna.

•He is the 49th recipient of this award.

•Born on October 6, 1946, Vinod Khanna had acted in 146 movies in his film career spanning 40 years.

DaDa SahEB PhaLkE aWaRD 2017

14 April, 2018 •The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

announced the 65th National Film Awards for 2017.

•Headed by Shekhar Kapur, the jury decided that the Best Feature Film was Village Rockstars, a movie in the Assamese language.

•The movie Bahubali :The Conclusion was awarded the Best Popular Film Award providing wholesome entertainment.

• Sridevi was chosen as Best Actress for the movie Mom and Riddhi Sen won the Best Actor Award for Bengali film Nagarkirtan.

65th NatIONaL FILM aWaRDS aNNOUNCED

AWARDs

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28 April, 2018 •The Council of Scientific and

Industrial Research (CSIR) was awarded the National Intellectual Property (IP) Award 2018.

•The CSIR was honoured by this award in the category of ‘Top R&D Institution/Organization for Patents and Commercialization’.

•The National IP Award is awarded annually by Indian Intellectual Property Office (under Ministry of Commerce and Industry) in various categories.

•CSIR is an autonomous body and India’s premier research and development (R&D) organisation.

•It has been ranked 9th in the world amongst 1207 government institutions, with overall global ranking of 75 in world, covering 5250 institutions.

17 April, 2018 •Barbara Bush, wife of former US President George

H W Bush (41st President) and the mother of another George W Bush (43rd President) died at the age of 92 years.

•Other than being the First Lady of the US, she was a robust campaigner for the Republican cause and a fierce defender of her family.

•She founded ‘The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy’ which is a non-profit organisation, based in Florida, that seeks to improve literacy in the United States through programs directed towards preschool children and parental literacy.

6 April, 2018 •The Indian Navy conducted

its humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) called Chakravat (cyclone).

•The main aim of the exercise was to review the response mechanism in case a cyclonic storm arises.

•This exercise was done with aid of the Kerala Government off the coast of Kochi.

•It involved the Coast Guard, the State administration, State Disaster Management Authority, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Fisheries Department, Coastal Police and the local fishing community.

NatIONaL INtELLECtUaL PROPERtY aWaRD WON BY CSIR

BaRBaRa BUSh PaSSES aWaY

ChakRaVat haDR EXERCISE CONDUCtED BY INDIaN NaVY

7 April, 2018 •The Air Force will

conduct the biggest air combat exercise along Pakistan and China borders between April 10 and April 23, 2018.

•This exercise called Gaganshakti will sharpen and polish the war fighting skills of air warriors when real war time occurs.

EXERCISE GaGaNShaktI 2018 tO BE CONDUCtED BY IaF

12 April, 2018 •The 10th Defence Expo (DefExpo 2018) was

inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Chennai in Tiruvidanthal, Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu.

•The aim of the expo is to showcase India’s defence manufacturing abilities to the world.

•The theme of DefExpo 2018 was ‘India : The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub.’

10th DEFENCE EXPO INaUGURatED

29 April, 2018 •LCA Tejas successful test

fire Derby air-to-air beyond visual range missile.

•Its overall capability as effective supersonic combat jet was successfully tested.

•‘Derby’ is short to medium range BVR Air-to-Air missile.

•Derby is a dual-use missile (air-to-air and surface-to-air) jointly developed by Israeli armament development agency Rafael and Israel Aircraft Industries MBT.

LIGht COMBat aIRCRaFt (LCa) tEJaS SUCCESSFULLY FIRED DERBY

DEATHs

DEFENCE

1 April, 2018 •Data from the Indian Cellular Association indicates

that India has become the second largest producer of mobile phones in the world.

•India produces 11% of the total number of phones in the world.

•India replaced Vietnam in achieving this position. •China leads as the country to produce the

largest number of mobile phones in the world.

INDIa, WORLD’S SECOND LaRGESt PRODUCER OF MOBILE PhONES

ECONOMICs

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26 April, 2018 •A restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM),

a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

•The restructuring will be done during the remaining period of 14th Finance Commission (2018-20) with an outlay of Rs. 1290 crore.

•The restructured mission will focus on the development of bamboo in limited States where it has social, commercial and economical advantage.

NatIONaL BaMBOO MISSION REStRUCtURED

8 April, 2018 •Bharat Stage (BS) VI grade fuel (Diesel and

Petrol) has been introduced in Delhi to combat the rising levels of air pollution.

•Delhi, became the first city in India to supply this ultra clean fuel.

•Around 391 petrol pumps in Delhi-NCR have started supplying BS-VI fuel.

BS-VI FUEL USED FOR thE FIRSt tIME IN DELhI

9 April, 2018 •The GOBARdhan Yojana is set to be launched

from Karnal in Haryana by the end of April 2018. •This announcement was already made by the

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget session 2018.

•The word GOBAR in the GOBARdhan Yojana stands for ‘Galvanising Organic Bio Agro Resources’.

•The aim of the scheme is to focus on using, managing and converting cattle waste (gobar) and solid wastes from the farms and fields.

•These will be further made into compost, bio-gas and bio-CNG.

GOBaRdhan YOJaNa tO BE IMPLEMENtED

ENVIRONMENT

2 April, 2018 •The CBSE announced the

re-exam date of Class XIIth Economics as 28 April 2018.

•This re-exam is to be held as the Economics papers were leaked and this was reported in the last week of March.

•There was news of Class Xth Maths paper being leaked too. However the CBSE has announced that no re-exam will be held for Class X students.

26 April, 2018 •The Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE)

has announced that schools across the country will soon have compulsory health and physical education classes for students, especially between Classes 9 and 12.

•The CBSE has decided that one period every day will be dedicated to Health and Physical Education, especially Class 9 onwards, in over 19,000 schools in the country.

5 April, 2018 •According to a February 2018 report, as stated

by the Steel Users Federation of India, India now stands second to China in manufacturing crude steel.

•The growth in crude steel production occurred due to the government policies that controlled imports and encouraged local demand through schemes like ‘Make-in-India’.

•The report stated that India overtook Japan’s place as second largest manufacturer of crude steel in the world.

BOaRD PaPERS LEakED — RE-XaMS SChEDULED

hEaLth aND PhYSICaL EDUCatION COURSES BY CBSEINDIa IS WORLD’S SECOND LaRGESt MaNUFaCtURER OF CRUDE StEEL

EDUCATION

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10 April, 2018 •The Ganga Hariteema Yojana or Ganga Greenery

Scheme was started by Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

•The scheme covers 27 districts in Uttar Pradesh all of which are located on the banks of river Ganga.

•The main aim of the scheme is to enhance green cover in the catchment areas of river Ganga.

•In turn it would also prevent soil erosion. •Tree plantation will also be carried out in 1 km

area from the banks of river Ganga. •‘One Person One Tree’ slogan will encourage

common people to engage in tree planting.

18 April, 2018 •The National Clean Air Program (NCAP) aims

to tackle increasing air pollution in a comprehensive way.

•It has been designed to meet prescribed annual average ambient air quality standards at all locations in India in a stipulated time frame.

•This program will be launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Environment Change.

• The main objectives of the NCAP include to augment and evolve effective and proficient ambient air quality monitoring network across country to ensure comprehensive and reliable database; To have efficient data dissemination and public outreach mechanism for timely measures for prevention and mitigation of air pollution and to have feasible management plan for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution.

GaNGa haRItEEMa YOJaNa LaUNChED

DRaFt OF NatIONaL CLEaN aIR PROGRaM RELEaSED

23 April, 2018 •The Sunderbans Reserve Forest will be included in

list of Ramsar Sites. The State Forest Department applied for the coveted recognition under the Ramsar Convention.

•Once it is conferred Ramsar Site status, Sundarbans Reserve Forest will be the largest protected wetland in the country. There are currently 26 sites in India recognised as Ramsar wetland sites of international importance, including East Kolkata Wetlands in West Bengal.

•The status under Ramsar Convention will help in conservation of Sunderban (already World Heritage Site) which is facing threat from climate change and rising sea level.

SUNDERBaNS IN RaMSaR LISt

10 April, 2018 •Veena Sahajwalla has successfully developed the

first microfactory that can change components from electronic waste to useful things to be reused.

•Veena Sahajwalla is an IIT-trained Australian scientist of Indian origin.

•The method will cause less harm to environment as e-wastes in landfills have caused tremendous land pollution.

WORLD’S FIRSt MICROFaCtORY FOR E-WaStE

25 April, 2018 •The world’s smallest land fern named Malvi’s

adder’s-tongue fern (Ophioglossum malviae) has been discovered in Ahwa forests of Western Ghats in Gujarat’s Dang district.

•The fingernail-sized fern belongs to group known as adder’s-tongue ferns, named after their resemblance to snake’s tongue.

•Its size is just one centimeter (the most similar adder’s-tongue fern is 10 cm tall).

WORLD’S SMaLLESt LaND FERN DISCOVERED

7 April, 2018 •A giant mosquito with a wingspan of 11.15

centimetres was discovered in China’s Sichuan province.

•The mosquito belongs to the world’s largest mosquito species Holorusia mikado.

•They are weak fliers because of their big bodies and when they fly, it is more like hopping.

GIaNt MOSQUItO DISCOVERED IN ChINa

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7 April, 2018 •World Health Day

(WHD) is observed all over the world on 7 April every year.

•It marks the founding of World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1948.

•The main theme for WHD 2018 is titled ‘Universal Health Coverage’.

•WHD 2018 aimed to see that everyone in all places in the world receive good quality health care and no financial burden must be felt when going for basic good quality health treatment.

WORLD hEaLth DaY 2018

10 April, 2018 •To pay homage to Dr Christian Fredrich Samuel

Hahnemann, founder of Homeopathy, people around the world observe World Homeopathic Day (WHD) on April 10.

•This year (2018) is the 263rd birth anniversary of Dr Hahnemann.

•Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated WHD Convention with a theme ‘Innovate: Evolve, Progress: Exploring Science since 40 years’.

WORLD hOMEOPathY DaY

11 April, 2018 •The National Safe Motherhood Day (NMSD) is

observed every year on April 11. •The theme of NMSD 2018 was ‘Respectful

Maternity Care’. •It aims to create awareness about proper health

care and maternity facilities to pregnant and lactating women.

NatIONaL SaFE MOthERhOOD DaY

5 April, 2018 •India observed its

National Maritime Day on 5 April.

•Every year this day commemorates the maiden voyage of the first Indian owned ship SS Loyalty.

•SS Loyalty was the first ship of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd.

•SS Loyalty had set sail from Bombay(now Mumbai) to London on 5 April 1919.

NatIONaL MaRItIME DaY OBSERVED

25 April, 2018 •A Loan Agreement has been signed with the World

Bank for IBRD credit of US$ 125 (equivalent) for Innovate in India for Inclusiveness Project by the Government of India.

•The main aim of the project is to nurture indigenous innovation, foster local product development and accelerate commercialization process in biopharmaceutical and medical devices industry in India.

GOVERNMENt OF INDIa SIGNS LOaN aGREEMENt WIth WORLD BaNk

IMPORTANT DAYs

FINANCE

30 April, 2018 •National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA) images of the past ten days (April 20,2018-April,30,2018) show some parts of India dotted with fires.

•These fires were seen in the states of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Madhya Pradesh (MP), Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and some were seen in the Southern states.

•Scientists are claiming some to be forest fires and some to be crop fires.

•Crop fires in recent years have been due to the dependence of farmers on combine harvesters, which leave a short stubble behind.

NaSa IMaGES OF tEN DaYS REVEaL PaRtS OF INDIa DOttED BY FIRE

Page 7

19 April, 2018 •The World Liver Day

(TWLD) is observed the world over on April 19.

•The day is observed to build awareness and understanding the importance of liver in human body and how liver ailments can be treated.

•The 2018 theme for WLD is ‘Riding New Waves in Liver Diagnosis, Staging & Treatment’.

16 April, 2018 •The World Heritage Day has been observed

since 1982 when the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) declared it.

•It aims to enhance awareness about the importance of cultural heritage, monuments and to conserve them.

WORLD LIVER DaY

WORLD hERItaGE DaY

24 April, 2018 •In India 24 April is celebrated

as National Panchayati Raj Day. •It marks the passing of

Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 that came into force with effect from 24 April 1993.

•The 73rd Amendment 1992 added a new Part IX to the Constitution titled ‘The Panchayats’ and declares that “State shall take steps to organise village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government.”

21 April, 2018 •The National Civil Services

Day is celebrated every year on April 21, when civil servants rededicate themselves to cause of the citizens and renew their commitment to public service.

•12th edition of National Civil Services Day was observed on April 21, 2018 across India. This year observance of the day focussed on ‘Evolving Strategies for Transforming Aspirational Districts’.

•The Prime Minister Award for Excellence in Public Administration is bestowed upon best civil servants on this day.

NatIONaL PaNChaYatI RaJ DaY

CIVIL SERVICE DaY

25 April, 2018 •Every year 25 April

is observed as World Malaria Day all over the world.

•It recognises the global efforts to control preventable vector borne disease malaria.

•The theme of 2018 WMD is ‘Ready to beat malaria’. The theme marks the importance of collective responsibility and commitment of global community in bringing together people on working towards making the world free of malaria.

WORLD MaLaRIa DaY

9 April, 2018 •NASA is planning to send its first

robotic solar probe on July 31, 2018 on a seven-year long mission.

•This mission named the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) will aim to study the outer corona of the Sun.

•The PSP has been built to approach the Sun within 8.5 solar radii (5.9 million km) to surface (photosphere) of the Sun.

•The PSP has been designed and built at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

PaRkER SOLaR PROBE

tIaNGONG-1 PLUMMEtS tO ItS END

sCIENCE

21 April, 2018 •Tiangong-1, China’s space lab burnt itself as it

plummeted down entering Earth’s atmosphere. •Tiangong-1 was China’s first prototype space

station or space lab. •Most of the parts of the space lab were burnt

due to the gravity-propelled re-entry process. •The remains of the burnt space lab landed in the

middle of the South Pacific Ocean, near Point Nemo, known as the world’s “spacecraft cemetery or graveyard”.

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10 April, 2018 •The Food Safety and

Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched Project Dhoop to combat Vitamin D deficiency in children.

•It has asked the schools to conduct morning assemblies between 11 am and 1 pm to enhance absorption of Vitamin D by the students as they would get sunlight at that time.

•This step was taken when it was found that over 90% children suffered from Vitamin D deficiency even though ample sunshine is received all through the year in India.

•Deficiency of Vitamin D has occurred due to overuse of sunscreen , wearing clothes that cover most of the skin and lack of being out in the sunshine as mostly people tend to stay indoors in air-conditioned atmosphere.

PROJECt DhOOP

12 April, 2018 •The IRNSS1I

navigation satellite was successfully launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

•The satellite weighed 321 tonnes and was 44.4 m high.

•The satellite was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on its second attempt. The first attempt to launch IRNS1I was not successful in August 2017 as the heat shield covering the satellite had failed to separate in space after the launch.

19 April, 2018 •The TESS mission is

led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and

Space Research. It is designed to find potential planets orbiting close to Earth.

•TESS is Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a new planet-hunting spacecraft.

•TESS mission is designed to carry out first space borne all-sky transiting exoplanet survey.

•It was launched onboard of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Carnival, Florida, US by NASA.

12 April, 2018 •The Massive

Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MIMO) lab was opened at the Indian Institute of Technology campus in Delhi.

•It will operate to look into the standardisation, R&D and manufacturing of 5G equipments.

•It is the first of its kind 5G lab in India.

10 April, 2018 •The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of

US has approved the use of Acuvue Oasys Contact Lenses with Transitions Light Intelligent Technology.

•These contact lenses will automatically darken when exposed to bright light.

•These are soft contact lenses that can be used daily.

NaVIGatION SatELLItE IRNSS1I SUCCESSFULLY LaUNChED

NaSa LaUNChES tESS

FIRSt 5G LaB IN INDIa

CONtaCt LENSES that DaRkEN IN BRIGht LIGht aPPROVED

8 April, 2018 •Prof. Panchanan Mohanty

from Odisha discovered two new languages during his activities related to Centre for Endangered Languages and Mother Tongue Studies.

•He came upon two languages called Walmiki and Malhar mostly spoken in remote regions of Odisha by a handful of people.

•Both these languages are on the endangered languages list.

tWO NEW LaNGUaGES DISCOVERED IN INDIa

MIsCELLANEOUs

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16 April, 2018 •The Gram Swaraj Abhiyan – Special Intervention

was launched by the Union Government. •It aims to deliver welfare schemes to select villages

which need special attention. •The Abhiyan has seven schemes under it namely

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwla Yojana, Ujala scheme, Saubhagya, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Mission Indradhanush.

11 April, 2018 •Prime Minister Narendra

Modi flagged off India’s first high-speed electric locomotive which has a 12000 horsepower (HP) engine.

•The engine was flagged off from Madhepura Electric Locomotive Factory in Bihar.

•It is also the first major Make-in-India project done by the Indian Railway.

•It was assisted by the French firm Alstome during the project.

GRaM SWaRaJ aBhIYaN LaUNChED

INDIa LaUNChES ItS FIRSt hIGh-SPEED ELECtRIC LOCOMOtIVE

18 April, 2018 •The first meeting of National Council on India’s

Nutrition Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyaan was held in New Delhi.

•Its mandate is to provide policy directions to address the country’s nutritional challenges through coordinated inter-sectoral action.

•POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan in March 2018.

•POSHAN stands for ‘Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition’.

MEEtING hELD ON INDIa’S NUtRItION ChaLLENGES

21 April, 2018 •The ordinance passed by the Union Cabinet has

provision for maintaining national database and profile of sexual offenders by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

•The ordinance amends Indian Penal Code (IPC), Criminal Procedure Code, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Indian Evidence Act.

•The ordinance provides for stringent punishment of jail term of minimum 20 years or life imprisonment or death for rape of girl less than 12 years. It provides punishment with imprisonment for rest of life or death sentence in case of gang rape of girl below 12 years.

21 April, 2018 •World’s largest and most geographically diverse

inter-governmental committment on cyber security cooperation was made in London on April 21.

•The committment was made at the end of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

•The Commonwealth Cyber Declaration is to take action on cyber security by 2020.

ORDINaNCE FOR DEath PENaLtY FOR ChILD RaPIStS aPPROVED

CYBER SECURItY COOPERatION COMMIttMENt BY ChOGM

25 April, 2018 • Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Rashtriya

Gram Swaraj Abhiyan at Ramnagar, tribal-dominated district of Madhya Pradesh on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day (24 April).

•It is a Central government scheme that aims at making rural local bodies self-sustainable, financially stable and more efficient.

RaShtRIYa GRaM SWaRaJ aBhIYaN LaUNChED

Page 10

16 April, 2018 •Bijapur in Chhattisgarh was the venue for the

opening of the first Health and Wellness Centre. •This marks the launch of Ayushman Bharat Yojana-

National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM). •Prime Minister

Narendra Modi inaugurated this world’s largest government funded health programme.

28 April, 2018 •A 360-degree virtual reality (VR) video for global

‘Incredible India’ tourism campaign was released by the Google Arts & Culture in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism.

• The video showcases 360-degree view of some of most iconic destinations in India including Delhi’s Qutab Minar, Hampi’s Vitthala Temples,

Amritsar’s Golden Temple and Goa’s beautiful scenic places.

•The video has been created using best of 360-degree video capture technology, including Google’s Yi Halo camera and music in the video has been inspired by the regional music of the places featured in the video.

aYUShMaN BhaRat YOJaNa StaRtED

VIRtUaL REaLItY VIDEO ON ‘INCREDIBLE INDIa’

PLACEs

29 April, 2018 •Avengers : Infinity Wars has broken several

records since its release on Friday, including both the US and worldwide box office collections in the opening weekend.

•In India, the latest Marvel team-up had the biggest opening weekend for a Hollywood film, and has become the highest-grossing Hollywood film of 2018.

•Infinity War’s worldwide opening weekend stands at a record-shattering Rs. 4,182 crores.

29 April, 2018 •India and Pakistan are to participate together in

SCO counter-terror exercise for the first time.

•They will be taking part in Peace Mission which is a multi-nation counter-terror exercise to be held in September 2018 in Russia, under the framework of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

•Its main goal is to enhance counter-terror cooperation among the eight SCO member countries namely China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, India and Pakistan.

30 April, 2018 •International Buddhist Conference was held in

Lumbini, Nepal on April 29 and April 30, 2018 in Lumbini, Nepal.

•The Conference commemorated the birth of Lord Buddha, celebrated as Buddha Jayanti.

•Lumbini is birth place of Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhist religion.

•The Conference aimed to disseminate teachings of Buddha and spread messages of nonviolence, brotherhood, co-existence, love and peace.

•At the Conference the 10 point Lumbini Declaration was adopted. It includes issues such as interfaith dialogue, infrastructure development, connecting Buddhist attractions in Nepal and India, and implementing Greater Lumbini Area Master Plan.

aVENGERS : INFINItY WaRS RECORDS BIGGESt GLOBaL OPENING

INDIa–PakIStaN FIRSt tIME tOGEthER IN PEaCE MISSION

INtERNatIONaL BUDDhISt CONFERENCE hELD ON BUDDha JaYaNtI

Page 11

24 April, 2018 •Migration and Development Brief by World Bank

has reported that, India has retained top position as recipient of remittances with about $69 billion in 2017.

•India received $69 billion remittances in 2017 as against $62.7 billion in 2016.

INDIa RECEIVED hIGhESt REMIttaNCES IN 2017 : WB

26 April, 2018 •The India-Wiesbaden Conference

2018 was held in Delhi on April 16-17, 2018.

•The Conference was hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in cooperation with Government of Germany and UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA).

•The title of the Conference was ‘Securing Global Supply Chains through Government-Industry Partnerships towards Effective Implementation of UNSC Resolution 1540.’

INDIa-WIESBaDEN CONFERENCE 2018 hELD IN DELhI

26 April, 2018 •World Press Freedom

Index (WPFI) 2018 by Reporters Without Borders ranked India 138th out of 180 nations surveyed worldwide in terms of press freedom in 2017.

•WPFI is produced by France-based international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RWB), or Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF).

•WPFI aims to promotes and defends freedom of information and freedom of the press.

•As per Index’s definition, quality of press freedom in India is bad.

INDIa at 138th POSItION IN WORLD PRESS FREEDOM INDEX 2018

15 April, 2018 •The Commonwealth Games 2018 officially known

as XXI Commonwealth Games were held from April 4, 2018 to April 14, 2018 at Gold Coast, Queensland in Australia.

•More than 4,400 athletes including 300 para athletes from 71 Commonwealth Games Associations took part in the event.

•The official motto for the 2018 Commonwealth Games was ‘Share the Dream’. It was chosen to highlight the dreams and experience at the games that were shared by participants of the games, ranging from athletes to volunteers and the host country Australia to the world including the Commonwealth nations.

•Borobi was named as the mascot of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in 2016. Borobi is a blue koala, with indigenous markings on its body.

•Here are the first five in the final Medal Tally.

MEDAL TALLY

Country Gold Bronze silver Total

Australia 80 59 59 198

England 45 45 46 136

India 26 20 20 66

Canada 15 40 27 82

New Zealand 15 16 15 46

COMMONWEaLth GaMES 2018 CONCLUDED

REPORTs

sPORTs