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Monthly Current Affairs PDF and Quiz April 2019
China successfully launches second generation
data relay satellite
China has successfully launched the first of its new-
generation data relay satellites into orbit that will
provide data relay, measurement and control services
for its manned spacecraft.
• The Tianlian II-01 satellite was launched by
a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the
Xichang Satellite Launch Centre.
• The Tianlian II network will be markedly
more advanced in mission planning, system
management and operations than the first-
generation network composed of Tianlian I
satellites.
• The satellite is developed by the China
Academy of Space Technology under the
China Aerospace Science and Technology
Corporation.
• China launched its first data relay satellite,
the Tianlian I-01, in April 200
World Autism Awareness Day: 2 April 2019
April 2 is celebrated all world over as World Autism
Awareness Day and April, the month for autism
awareness.
• The theme for this year is Assistive
Technologies, Active Participation.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a
neurodevelopmental disorder which affects
communication and socialisation.
• They have difficulties with making eye
contact with people, using gestures and
actions for communication.
• Currently, studies say one in 59 children have
autism.
Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to
resign before his mandate expires
Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will resign
before his mandate expires on 28 April.
• A statement issued by the President's office
said the president will take steps to ensure
state institutions continue to function during
the transition period.
• Millions of Algerians have been holding
weekly protests nationwide calling for the 82-
year-old Bouteflika to step down after almost
20 years in office.
• He has rarely been seen in public since he
suffered a stroke in 201
Points to Remember
• Capital: Algiers
• Currency: Algerian dinar
US approves sale of 24 MH 60 Romeo Seahawk
helicopters to India
The US has approved the sale of 24 multi-role MH-
60 Romeo Seahawk helicopters to India at an
estimated cost of 4 billion US dollars.
• It is considered the world's most advanced
maritime helicopter.
• The choppers will provide the Indian defence
forces with the capability to perform anti-
surface and anti-submarine warfare missions.
South Korea to launch world's first national 5G
networks
South Korea launched the world's first nationwide
5G mobile networks.
• Three top telecom providers SK Telecom,
KT, and LG Uplus began their 5G services at
11 pm local time 3 April 2019
• Experts say 5G will bring smartphones near-
instantaneous connectivity will be 20 times
faster than 4G.
International Day for Mine Awareness and
Assistance: 04 April
On 8 December 2005, the United Nations (UN)
General Assembly declared that April 4 of each year
would be officially proclaimed and observed as
International Day for Mine Awareness and
Assistance in Mine Action.
• This day aims to raise awareness about
landmines and progress toward their
eradication.
• It was first observed on April 4, 200
• Theme: Safe Ground - Safe Home
Chicago makes history electing Lori Lightfoot as
the first black woman
Chicago has created history by electing an African-
American woman as its mayor for the first time.
• Lori Lightfoot, a 56-year-old former federal
prosecutor and practising lawyer who has
never before held elected office, won the
city's mayoral race by a huge margin.
• Lightfoot will take over office from Mayor
Rahm Emanuel, who previously served as
chief of staff under former President Barack
Obama.
UAE announces long-term visas for best 100
Arab start-ups
The UAE government has announced granting long-
term visas for the top 100 start-ups shaping the fourth
industrial revolution.
• The 100 Arab start-ups were selected at the
World Economic Forum on the Middle East
and North Africa, held in Jordan between 6-
7th April.
• According to the World Economic Forum's
latest report, 20% of the Arab world's 100
most promising startups are based in the
UAE.
• The initiative aims to further integrate the
Arab world's most promising start-up
entrepreneurs into a national and regional
dialogue on pressing challenges.
Points to Remember
• UAE Capital: Abu Dhabi
• Currency: United Arab Emirates Dirham
• It is formed by seven emirates: Ajman,
Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah
and Umm Al Quwain.
Japan space probe drops explosive on an asteroid
to make a crater
Japan's space agency JAXA,has said its Hayabusa2
spacecraft released an explosive onto an asteroid.
• The explosive was used to make a crater on
its surface and collect underground samples
to find possible clues to the origin of the solar
system.
• Hayabusa2 successfully touched down on a
tiny flat surface on the boulder-rich asteroid
in February 2019
Points to remember
• The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
(JAXA) is a Japanese national aerospace and
space agency.
• Headquarters: Tokyo
US declares Iran force as foreign terrorist
organisation
The US designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Corps a foreign terrorist organisation, an
unprecedented declaration against a foreign
government that may prompt retaliation and make it
harder for American diplomats and military officers
to work with allies in the region.
• It is the first time that the US has designated
an entity of another government as a terrorist
organization.
• The IRGC is a paramilitary organization
formed in the wake of Iran's 1979 Islamic
Revolution to defend the government. The
force answers only to Iran's supreme leader,
operates independently of the regular military
and has vast economic interests across the
country.
Israel: Voting begins to elect new parliament
Israelis began voting to elect a new parliament.
Fourteen main parties are competing for 120 seats in
the Knesset or parliament.
• Incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is running for his fifth term in
office.
• His main challenger is Benny Gantz, a former
chief of staff of the Israeli military.
• Voters will cast their ballots for a party, not a
candidate. The more votes a party gets, the
more seats it obtains in the Knesset as the
government is based on a nationwide
proportional representation system.
• Political parties must pass an electoral
threshold of 25 percent to gain a Knesset seat.
Astronomers take 1st ever image of a black hole
Astronomers have taken the first-ever image of a
black hole, which is located in a distant galaxy.
• The image which has been captured by a
network of eight telescopes across the world
shows an intensely bright 'ring of fire'
surrounding a perfectly circular dark hole.
• According to some scientists, the black hole
is located 500 million trillion kilometres
away.
Google Wing launches first home delivery drone
service
Wing, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet,
will deliver takeaway food, coffee and medicines by
drone to about 100 homes in Canberra.
• It has been testing its drones in Australia
since 2014 but many residents had
complained about the noise.
• Australia's aviation authority gave Wing
permission to launch a commercial service
after examining its safety record and
operational plans.
London becomes the first city to implement 24x7
pollution charge zone
London became the first city in the world to
implement a special Ultra Low Emission Zone
(ULEZ).
• The ULEZ would charge an entry fee for
older vehicles if they do not meet the
emission standards.
• In an attempt to reduce air pollution and
protect public health, the ULEZ will be
operational for 24 hours and seven days a
week.
• Motorists who drive into the zone in a vehicle
that does not meet the new emission standard
will have to pay a daily charge.
SpaceX carries out first commercial launch with
Falcon Heavy rocket
SpaceX has carried out its first commercial launch
with its Falcon Heavy rocket.
• It completed the task with placing a Saudi
satellite in orbit.
• The rocket carried a Saudi Arabian satellite
operated by Arabsat, a year after sending
founder Elon Musk's red Tesla roadster into
orbit as a test.
Points to remember
• CEO: Elon Musk
• Founded: 6 May 2002
• Headquarters: California, United States
Sudan's army ousts president Omar al-Bashir
Sudan Defence Minister Awad Ibnouf announced
that the President has been removed from power and
detained by the army.
• A three-month state of emergency is being
put in place.
• He said, Sudan's constitution is being
suspended, border crossings are being closed
until further notice and airspace is being
closed for 24 hours.
• Mr Bashir is the subject of an international
arrest warrant issued by the International
Criminal Court (ICC), which accuses him of
organising war crimes and crimes against
humanity in Sudan's western Darfur region.
Points to Remember
• Capital: Khartoum
• Currency: Sudanese pound
India to be Guest of Honour country at ADIBF
2019
UAE has announced that India will be the Guest of
Honour country at the Abu Dhabi International Book
Fair, ADIBF 2019
• It will be held from 24th to 30th April 2019
• The fair aims to highlight the UAE’s rich
heritage, showcasing its authenticity and
modernity, as well as its cultural and literary
output.
• The Indian Pavilion will host Indian authors
and literary scholars who will serve as
ambassadors for the literature and art of their
country.
UAE to host world’s foremost Artificial
Intelligence Summit
UAE is set to host the world’s foremost Artificial
Intelligence, AI Summit to empower global dialogue
on the future of government, business and society.
• The inaugural 'AI Everything', AIE will take
place at the Dubai World Trade Centre,
between 30 April to 1st May.
• The two-day event will bring together world
leaders to define the underlying pillars of
governance, business and society.
Finland’s Social Democrats declare general
election victory
The leader of Finland’s centre-left Social Democratic
Party (SDP) Antti Rinne, has declared victory in the
general election.
• The victory was declared after almost
complete results showed his party winning by
a razor-thin margin with 17%.
• The nationalist, Eurosceptic Finns party was
in second place with 15%, according to
nearly complete results published by the
justice ministry.
• If final results confirm the outcome, Rinne
could become Finland’s first leftwing prime
minister since 200
Points to Remember
• Finland Capital: Helsinki
• Currency: Euro
China makes world’s 1st armored amphibious
drone boat
China has successfully tested the world’s first armed
amphibious drone boat.
• It is capable of forming a combat triad with
aerial drones and other drone ships.
• Built by Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry
Group under China Shipbuilding Industry
Corporation, the drone ship is named
asMarine Lizard.
• Having a maximum operation range of 1,200
kms, the Marine Lizard can be remotely
controlled via satellites.
INS Magar loaded with relief material reaches
Mozambique
Indian naval ship INS Magar reached Mozambique's
Beira city loaded with suitable relief material.
• The ship handed over 250 tonne of rice and
500 kg of epidemic medicines for the
population of Beira affected by Cyclone Idai.
• Three Indian Naval ships were among the
first responders in the aftermath of Cyclone
Idai in mid-March, providing rescue, medical
care and relief to around 3,500 people in
Beira.
Points to Remember
• Capital: Maputo
• Currency: Mozambican metical
World Heritage Day 2019: 18 April
World Heritage Day is celebrated every year on April
1
• The day is also known as the International
Day for Monuments and Sites.
• The day is celebrated to raise awareness
about the diversity of cultural heritage,
monuments and their relevance.
• The theme for 2019 is ‘Rural Landscapes’.
Google opened its first Africa Artificial
Intelligence lab in Ghana
Google has opened an Artificial Intelligence (AI)
research lab in Ghana’s capital Accra.
It is the first lab of its kind in Africa.
• The lab would develop solutions in areas
including agriculture, like helping in
diagnosing certain types of crop disease.
• Google opened new research centers across
the globe such as in Tokyo, Zurich, New
York, and Paris, to exhibit itself as AI first
company in front of the world.
Points to Remember
• Ghana's capital: Accra
• Currency: Ghanaian cedi
Sri Lanka’s 1st satellite ‘Raavana-1’ launched
into space
Sri Lanka’s first satellite ‘Raavana-1’ was launched
into space from NASA’s Flight Facility on Virginia’s
east shore.
• ‘Raavana 1’ weights around 05 kg and the
lifespan of the satellite is around one and a
half years.
• The launch marks Sri Lanka’s entry into the
global space age.
• The satellite was designed and built at the
Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan by
two Sri Lankan research engineers.
Historic Mujibnagar day being observed in
Bangladesh
The historic Mujibnagar day was observed on 17
April in Bangladesh.
• The day marks the oath taking ceremony of
Bangladesh's first government in 1971 at
Baidyanathtala in Meherpur.
• On this day in 1971, senior leaders of the
liberation movement of Bangladesh
had assembled at Baidyanathtala to form the
provisional government of independent
Bangladesh.
• Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was
declared the President in absentia as he was
arrested and flown to Pakistan after the
Pakistan military crackdown on the then
‘East Pakistan’ on the night of March 25, 197
7th China International Technology Fair kicks
start in Shanghai
The 7th China International Technology Fair opened
in Shanghai.
• It is a national-level professional fair focused
on international technology trade.
• With an exhibition space covering 35,000
square meters, the fair has five exhibition
areas including professional technologies,
technological innovation, and trade services.
• Nearly 1,000 companies and organizations
are attending the fair.
• The CSITF has become an important
showcase for the latest technologies
worldwide since 2013 when the first
exhibition was held.
Saudi Arabia to host the G20 summit in 2020
Saudi Arabia announced it will host the G20 summit
in November 2020 in the capital Riyadh.
• It will be the first G20 meeting in the Arab
world will be held in November 2020.
• Japan will host this year's G20 summit in
Osaka, which will be held June 28-29
• In 2018, the conference was held in Buenos
Aries, Argentina.
• The G20 is made up of 19 of the world's
biggest economies, as well as the European
Union. It was formed in 1999 to discuss
policy matters and financial stability.
India rebuilds Chhyoiphel Kundeling monastery
in Nepal
India has rebuilt Chhyoiphel Kundeling Monastery
in Nepal.
• The Monastery has been reconstructed with
Government of India grant of 19 million
Nepalese rupees.
• The Chhyoiphel Kundeling Monastery was
established in 1946 with the active initiation
and contribution of Lisankhu villagers.
Saudi Arabia increases India's Haj Quota to 2
lakh
Saudi Arabia has issued a formal order increasing the
Haj quota of India to two lakhs from one lakh seventy
five-thousand.
• The decision will ensure that all the Haj
applicants from big states like Uttar Pradesh,
West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar can
embark pilgrimage this year as their waiting
lists have been cleared due to the increase in
quota.
• The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman at a meeting with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi had announced that Indian
Haj quota would be increased by 25 thousand
to two lakhs.
• A record number of two lakh Indian Muslims
will perform Haj this year without subsidy.
INS Kolkata and INS Shakti to arrive in China to
participate in IFR
Indian Naval Ships Kolkata and Shakti will arrive at
Qingdao in China to participate in the International
Fleet Review IFR as part of 70th Anniversary
celebrations of People's Liberation Army (Navy).
• International Fleet Review is a parade of
naval ships, aircraft and submarines, and is
organised by nations to promote goodwill,
strengthen cooperation and showcase their
organisational capabilities.
• IFR also serves as an ideal platform for the
world’s navies to showcase their prowess and
indigenous ship designing and shipbuilding
capabilities in a global and international
arena.
Mount Agung volcano in Bali erupts again
In Indonesia, Mount Agung volcano in Bali resort
Island erupted.
• Thousands of masks have been distributed to
the communities amid the fears of the ashes
impacting human respiratory.
• Mount Agung is situated in Karangasem
district and about 70 km from tourist hub
Kuta.
• In its last eruption in 1963, more than 1,100
people were killed.
Earth Day 2019: 22 April
Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 2
• Worldwide, various events are held to
demonstrate support for environmental
protection.
• It was first celebrated in 1970, now this event
includes events in more than 193 countries.
• Theme: 'Protect Our Species'
Comedian Zelensky wins the presidency by a
landslide victory
In Ukraine, comedian and political newcomer
Volodymyr Zelensky has apparently secured a
landslide victory in the Presidential election.
• Exit polls indicated that he is going to take 73
per cent of the votes while incumbent Petro
Poroshenko securing 25 per cent.
• Zelensky's only previous political role has
been playing the President on television.
Points to remember
• Capital: Kyiv
• Currency: Ukrainian hryvnia
UAE adopts National Artificial Intelligence
Strategy 2031
The UAE Cabinet has adopted the National Artificial
Intelligence Strategy 203
• Its aims at positioning the UAE as a global
leader in artificial intelligence by 2031 and to
develop an integrated system that employs
artificial intelligence in vital areas in the
country.
• The strategy includes eight objectives and a
number of initiatives, aimed at employing
artificial intelligence in vital areas such as
education, government services and the
community wellbeing.
Olive Ridley hatchlings begin a new journey from
Gahirmatha coast
Millions of baby Olive Ridley turtles have started
emerging from the pits at Gahirmatha beach in
Kendrapara district.
• This Sanctuary is known as the World’s
largest nesting ground for these endangered
species.
• Around 50 lakh turtles had congregated at the
beach for nesting in March.
• Every year, the female Olive Ridley turtles
come ashore, dig a nest and lay about 100
eggs.
• After this, they conceal the nests before
returning to the sea.
• The eggs incubate in the warm sand and after
40 to 45 days, two-inch baby turtles hatch.
UAE's Hope Probe project bound for Mars is
85% complete
The UAE Space Agency and Mohammed bin Rashid
Space Centre (MBRSC) have announced that 85% of
the Hope Probe project has been completed.
• Hope Probe is an ambitious dream project of
UAE to send a mission to Mars.
• Hope Probe is scheduled to be launched in
July 2020.
• With a successful launch, UAE hopes to
become the first Arabic and Islamic country
to make the Mars Mission dream a reality.
• It is planned to reach Mars by 2021 to
coincide with the 50th anniversary of the
founding of the UAE.
NASA astronaut to set a record for the longest
spaceflight by a woman
NASA astronaut Christina Koch is going to have her
mission on the International Space Station (ISS)
extended to 328 days.
• This would set a record for the longest single
spaceflight by a woman.
• Koch arrived at the space station on March 14
and now is scheduled to remain in orbit until
February 2020.
• She will eclipse the record of 288 days set by
former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in
2016-1
• The longest single spaceflight by a NASA
astronaut is 340 days, set by former NASA
astronaut Scott Kelly during his one-year
mission in 2015-1
World Book Day 2019: 23 April
World Book Day is celebrated by UNESCO and
other related organisations every year on the 23rd of
April.
• Also called the World Book and Copyright
Day, it is an occasion to promote the joy of
books and the art of reading.
• 23rd April was selected by UNESCO to pay
tribute to great literary figures including
William Shakespeare, Miguel Cervantes and
Inca Garcilaso de la Vega who died on this
day.
• This date was finalised in the year 1995 in the
UNESCO General Conference, held in Paris,
to honour authors and books worldwide.
Indonesia releases special stamp on the theme of
Ramayana
Indonesia has released a special commemorative
stamp on the theme of Ramayana to mark the 70th
anniversary of the establishment of its diplomatic ties
with India.
• The stamp has been designed by renowned
Indonesian sculptor Padmashri Bapak
Nyoman Nuarta.
• It featured a scene from Ramayana in which
Jatayu valiantly fought to save Sita.
• India's Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Rawat
and Indonesia's Vice Foreign Minister
Abdurrahman Mohammad Fachir attended
the event.
Israel to name a new town in Golan after Trump
Israel would name a new place in the Golan Heights
after U.S. President Donald Trump.
• It will be named as an expression of gratitude
for his recognition of its claim of sovereignty
over the strategic plateau.
• Israel captured the Golan from Syria in a
1967 war and annexed it, in a move not
recognized internationally.
• The United States broke with other world
powers last month when Trump signed a
decree recognizing Israeli sovereignty there.
UN, EU sign joint framework to strengthen
partnership in counter-terrorism efforts
The United Nations and the European Union (EU)
have signed a joint framework aimed at
strengthening partnership in counter-terrorism
efforts.
• The framework was enacted on the occasion
of the second EU-UN high-level political
dialogue on Counter-Terrorism that was held
in New York.
• The UN-EU initiative will focus on terrorism
and violent extremism prevention in Africa,
the Middle East, and Asia, as well as support
victims of terrorism offenders.
Points to Remember
• European Union Headquarters: Brussels,
Belgium
• Member states: 28 states
Etihad becomes first major airline to operate
plastic-free
UAE's carrier Etihad Airways has become the first
airline in the Gulf region to operate a flight without
any single-use plastics on board.,
• This was concluded in a bid to raise
awareness about pollution on Earth Day
(April 22).
• It is a part of Etihad's pledge to reduce single-
use plastic usage by 80 per cent not just in-
flight, but across the entire organisation by
the end of 202
Kim Jong-un & Vladimir Putin to hold first
summit talks in Vladivostok
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian
President Vladimir Putin met for their first summit
talks in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok.
• The two leaders talked about the Korean
peninsula's nuclear problem.
• Kim is believed to seek support after failing
to reach an agreement with US President
Trump on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons
programme at Hanoi earlier this year.
NASA's InSight detects first likely 'quake' on
Mars
NASA's robotic Mars InSight lander has recorded a
likely marsquake for the first time ever.
• The US space agency said the faint seismic
signal, detected by the lander's Seismic
instrument, was recorded on April
• NASA said this is the first recorded trembling
that appears to have come from inside the
plane.
• Scientists still are examining the data to
determine the exact cause of the signal.
World Malaria Day: 25 April 2019
World Malaria Day (WMD) is an international
observance commemorated every year on 25 April.
• It is observed to spread awareness about
malaria disease globally and to promote
efforts to prevent malaria around the world.
• The theme of the World Malaria Day 2019
was “Zero malaria starts with me”.
• WMD is one of eight official global public
health campaigns currently marked by the
World Health Organization (WHO).
World Intellectual Property Day: 26 April
World Intellectual Property Day observed across the
globe on 26 April.
• Intellectual property refers to creations of the
mind, inventions, literary and artistic works,
and symbols, names and images used in
commercial activities.
• The day is observed across the world to
spread awareness about the role that
intellectual property rights like patents,
trademarks, industrial designs and copyright
play in encouraging innovation and
creativity.
• The theme of World Intellectual Property
Day 2019 is ‘Reach for Gold: IP and Sports’.
India Pavilion inaugurated at Abu Dhabi
International Book Fair 2019
The India Pavilion at the 29th Abu Dhabi
International Book Fair has been inaugurated.
• India has been designated as the Guest of
Honour for the Book Fair, which is being
held from 24th – 30th April 2019
• The India Pavilion lays special focus on the
life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi.
• It displays the 100 volume series titled
Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, apart
from various publications on the freedom
struggle.
ABU Media Summit on Climate Action and
Disaster Preparedness underway in Nepal
5th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Media
Summit on Climate Action and Disaster
Preparedness began in Kathmandu.
• The theme of the two-day summit is “Media
Solutions for Sustainable Future: Saving
Lives, Building Resilient Communities”.
• The basic aim of the summit is to address the
issue of fully utilizing the media’s potential
of accelerating climate action and disaster
preparedness.
• Over 200 participants including political
leaders, representatives of UN agencies and
NGOs scientists and media persons are
attending the evet.
Points to remember
• Nepal Capital: Kathmandu
• Currency: Nepalese rupee
• President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari
1. International Dance Day: 29 April 2019
International Dance Day is a global celebration of
dance, created by the Dance Committee of the
International Theatre Institute (ITI), the main partner
for the performing arts of UNESCO.
• The event takes place every year on 29th
April, the anniversary of the birth of Jean-
Georges Noverre (1727–1810), the creator of
modern ballet.
• Every year a message from an outstanding
choreographer or dancer is circulated
throughout the world.
• This year message has been created by
Karima MANSOUR of Egypt, who is a
Dancer, Choreographer & Educator
2. South Korea set to hold ASEAN maritime drills
A two-part maritime exercise by the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
and its partnering countries is slated to start in South
Korea's port city of Busan.
• The exercise aims to counter maritime crime,
including illicit transactions of weapons and
other banned items.
• The drills are scheduled to take place from 29
April to 2 May in South Korea, following
which they will be held in Singapore from
May 9 to May 13.
• The maritime exercise involves 18 countries
of the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting
plus six other countries are slated to send
military personnel.
• Naval forces from India, Brunei, China,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and the
United States are scheduled to practice
rescuing ships hijacked by armed groups,
amongst other maritime security operations.
3. Sri Lankan President bans all types of face
coverings
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has issued
an order for a ban on burqa, veil or covering of the
face in a manner which prevents anyone from being
identified.
• Any garment or item which obstructs the
identification of a persons face would be
barred.
• It follows 21 April 2019, Easter attacks in
which more than 250 people were killed.
• Some Muslim organisations had also come
forward and suggested a ban on burqa to help
stabilize the security situation
Points to remember
• Capital: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
• Currency: Sri Lankan rupee
• Prime minister: Ranil Wickremesinghe
• President: Maithripala Sirisena
ISRO launches observation satellite EMISAT
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
successfully launched its latest observation satellite
EMISAT.
• The launch vehicle PSLV-C45 lifted off from
the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in
Sriharikota carrying EMISAT and 28 other
customer payloads.
• The main satellite EMISAT and the 28
customer satellites will be ed into two
different orbits, and later, the fourth stage
engine of the rocket will be taken to a third
orbit in space.
• The foreign satellites include 24 from the
United States, two from Lithuania and one
each from Switzerland and Spain.
EC clears revised MGNREGA wage rates from
April 1
Election Commission has approved a request of the
Rural Development Ministry to revise the wages
under the MGNREGA scheme from April
• The wages paid under the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(MGNREGA) are linked with the Consumer
Price Index for agricultural labourers (CPI-
AL).
• The new wage rates are notified on April 1,
the beginning of the new financial year.
• Different states have different wage rates so
the increase in wages will also be different.
• The increase could be up to 5 per cent over
and above the current wage.
• Points to Remember
• MNREGA was launched on Launched 2 Feb
200
Odisha celebrating 84th foundation day
Odisha is celebrating 84 years of its foundation.
• The day is also known as ‘Utkal Divas.’
• To commemorate the sacrifices of people for
the formation of Odisha province in 1936,
programmes are being organised at various
places across the State.
• Odisha was the first State to be formed on
linguistic basis in 193
• Earlier, Odisha was part of Bihar.
Points to Remember
• Governor: Ganeshi Lal
• Capital: Bhubaneswar
• Chief minister: Naveen Patnaik
• Lok Sabha seats: 21
• Rajya Sabha seats: 10
Kandhamal haldi gets GI tag
Kandhamal haldi (turmeric) produced by the tribal
farmers in Odisha's Kandhamal district received the
Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
• Kandhamal turmeric, originally grown by
tribal people in Kandhamal, is famous for its
medicinal properties.
• Kandhamal haldi is organic by default being
cultivated by more than 60,000 families.
The colour of Kandhamal haldi is golden yellow
being well distinguished from other varieties.
India and Chile signed three MOUs
India and Chile signed three MOU for cooperation in
the fields of mining, culture and Empowerment of
persons with disabilities.
• The agreements would further enhance
engagement in economic, social and cultural
fields between the two countries.
• Chile is the sixth largest trading partner of
India in the Latin American region.
• They also agreed to work together to
strengthen the global response to defeat and
destroy terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations.
Points to Remember
• Capital: Santiago
• Currency: Chilean peso
Supply of ultra-clean Euro-VI grade fuels begins
in cities adjoining NCR
Supply of ultra-clean Euro-VI grade petrol and diesel
has begun in cities adjoining the national capital.
• Delhi in April 2018 became the first city in
the country to leapfrog from Euro-IV grade
petrol and diesel to Euro-VI fuels.
• Cities in the 12 contiguous districts of
Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, as well as the
city of Agra, switched over to the cleaner
fuel.
• Rest of the country will follow suit from
April 2020.
• In 2015 India had decided to leapfrog to
Euro-VI emission norm compliant petrol and
diesel from April 2020, from the Euro-IV
grade at present.
• Euro-VI grade fuel contains 10 ppm of
sulphur as against 50 ppm in Euro-IV fuels.
India inks an agreement for setting up India-
Africa Institute of Agriculture & Rural
Development
India signed an agreement with a development bank
for setting up the India-Africa Institute of
Agriculture and Rural Development (IAIARD) in
Malawi.
• IAIARD will be a Pan-African Institute
wherein trainees not only from Malawi but
also from other African countries, will
receive training to develop their human
resources and build their capacity.
• The travel, logistics and training course
expenses for students from other African
countries will be borne by the Government of
India for an initial period of three years.
• This institute will be the first of its kind
developed in an African country by India.
Points to Remember
• Malawi Capital: Lilongwe
Maitri Bridge over Indus in Leh opened to the
public
The 260-foot Maitri Bridge, the longest suspension
bridge over the Indus River at Choglamsar village in
Leh was opened to the public.
• The bridge has been named 'Maitri Bridge',
symbolising the excellent civil-military
relations existing in the Leh-Ladakh region.
• It was constructed by the combat engineers
(Sahas aur Yogyata Regiment) of the Fire and
Fury Corps of the Indian Army in a record
time of 40 days, ferrying almost 500 tons of
equipment and construction material.
Telangana tops in eLearning training for field
staff
In eLearning training, Telangana state has ranked
number one by reaching 20,000 field staff during
2018-19
• This is the second year in succession that the
State got the distinction under the
Department of Personnel and Training
(DoPT).
• Dr MCR HRD Institute enrolled over 20, 000
field staff in different districts of the State to
impart training on 12 soft skills modules and
three domain-specific modules.
Rajan Anandan logs out of Google India
Rajan Anandan, Google’s vice-president for
Southeast Asia (SEA) and India, stepped down.
• Anandan is also an investor in multiple
startups and is slated to join venture fund
Sequoia Capital.
• Caesar Sengupta, who leads Google’s most
important project ‘Next Billion Users’, is
likely to succeed Anandan.
• Vikas Agnihotri, country director-sales, at
Google, will be replacing Anandan in the
interim, after he steps down by April-end.
WhatsApp launches ‘tipline’ to tackle rumours
ahead of elections
WhatsApp launched a new service named as 'tipline'.
• It allows users to submit for review messages
they think are misleading or carry
unsubstantiated information, in the latest of a
series of steps to curb misinformation on the
messaging platform.
• Users can send suspicious messages to the
'tipline phone number' to validate the
authenticity of claims in those messages,
which may be in the form of text, images or
videos.
• The service will respond by classifying the
said information as “true, false, misleading,
disputed or out of scope and (may) include
any other related information that is available
• Users can check the authenticity of the
information or rumours received on the
platform by reporting the forward to the
WhatsApp number +91-9643-000-88
NuGen Mobility Summit 2019
The International Centre for Automotive Technology
(ICAT) will organise a NuGen Mobility Summit,
2019, at Manesar, NCR, from 27th to 29th November
2019
• NuGen Mobility Summit is a biennial event
being organised by the International Centre
for Automotive Technology in collaboration
with SAE-NIS.
• More than 2500 participants and over 250
exhibitors are expected to take part in the
Summit.
India likely to grow at 2% in the current fiscal
year: ADB
Asian Development Bank, ADB, says India's growth
is set to pick up.
• ADB said India is expected to grow at 2 per
cent in the current fiscal on strengthening
consumption.
• It is expected to grow at 3 per cent in 2020 as
policy rates are cut and farmers receive
income support, bolstering domestic demand.
Indian flights will have WiFi soon
Airlines flying through the Indian airspace will now
be able to offer their passengers Wi-Fi connectivity
in the air.
• India has got a new “in-flight and maritime
connectivity” (IFMC) license.
• India's state-run telecom operator, Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) procured
the license from Inmarsat, a British
telecommunications satellite company that
offers global mobile services.
• According to the rules, passengers can make
phone calls or use the Internet when a flight
is at a minimum height of 3,000m in Indian
airspace to avoid interference with terrestrial
mobile networks.
Bureau of Indian Standards inks an MoU with
IIT Delhi
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has inked a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the
Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi to collaborate
in the field of standardisation and conformity
assessment.
• The MoU was signed by IIT Delhi Director
Professor V Ramgopal Rao and Director
General of BIS Surina Rajan.
• BIS and IIT Delhi have also agreed to set up
a Centre of Excellence in the field of
standardization, testing and conformity
assessment.
Points to Remember
• The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the
National Standards Body of India.
• Formed: 23 December 1986
• Headquarters: Manak Bhawan, New Delhi
National Maritime Day: 5 April
5 April marks the National Maritime Day of India.
• On this day in 1919, navigation history was
created when SS Loyalty, the first ship of The
Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd.
journeyed to the United Kingdom.
• It was a crucial step for Indian shipping
history when sea routes were controlled by
the British.
Vice President inaugurates 3-day National
Cardiology Conference in Lucknow
Vice President inaugurated the 3-day conference
organised by Dept of Cardiology in Lucknow.
• The conference leads national and
international experts from Europe, USA,
Japan, Singapore South Korea, Indonesia and
Australia deliberate on the latest topics of
Interventional and cutting edge technology.
• The conference being held for the first time
in Uttar Pradesh offers an opportunity to
showcase newer innovations in Cardiology
that can help deliver cost-effective
cardiology care to patients.
Traditional new year festivities being held in
several parts of the country
Traditional new year festivities are being celebrated
in several parts of the country.
• Festivals of Chaitra Sukladi, Ugadi, Gudi
Padava, Cheti Chand, Navreh and Sajibu
Cheiraoba are being celebrated with
traditional fervour and gaiety.
• In Telangana, people are celebrating Ugaadi
across two Telugu states, Telangana and
Andhra Pradesh to mark the beginning of the
Hindu Lunar calendar.
• In Maharashtra, Gudi Padwa signifies the
welcoming of spring.
• The day marks the beginning of Chaitra
Navratri, that lead up to Ram Navami.
Indian Navy signs MoU with Council of Scientific
and Industrial Research (CSIR)
The Indian Navy and Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR) inked an MoU to
undertake joint research and development of
advanced technologies for the Indian Navy.
• This will be a collaborative arrangement
between labs of CSIR, the Indian Navy and
Indian industry.
• The MoU provides a formal framework for
interaction between the Indian Navy and
CSIR.
• It would facilitate joint R&D activities in
diverse fields of Mechanical, Electronics,
Communication, Computer Science,
Propulsion systems, Metallurgy and
Nanotechnology.
World Health Day: 7 April 2019
The World Health Day is a global health awareness
day celebrated every year on 7 April, under the
sponsorship of the World Health Organization
(WHO).
• This day dedicated to spreading awareness
about equal healthcare facilities worldwide,
the importance of health and wellness.
• Theme: ‘Universal Coverage: Everyone,
Everywhere.’
Points to Remember
• World Health Organisation Formation: 7
April 1948
• Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland
• Head Director-General: Tedros Adhanom
Phayeng Village of Manipur becomes Indias first
carbon-positive settlement
Phayeng Village of Manipur has been tagged as
India's first carbon-positive settlement.
• A village is given the carbon-positive tag if it
sequesters more carbon than it emits, slowing
the accumulation of greenhouse gases and
mitigating the effects of climate change.
• Phayeng is a scheduled caste village of the
Chakpa community in Imphal West district.
• As part of the carbon-positive village project,
Phayeng will receive a grant of Rs10 crore in
phases to facilitate afforestation in the
catchment of river Maklang that flows along
the village.
NGT imposes Rs 100 crore penalty on Andhra
Pradesh government
The National Green Tribunal has slapped an interim
penalty of Rs 100 crore on the Andhra Pradesh
government for inaction to prevent illegal sand
mining in the state.
• A bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice
Adarsh Kumar Goel, directed the chief
secretary of Andhra Pradesh to forthwith
prohibit all unregulated sand mining.
• The tribunal directed the state government to
deposit Rs 100 crore 'environment
compensation' with the Central Pollution
Control Board within a month.
• The tribunal's direction came on a 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.
Dhanush Artillery Gun inducted into Indian
Army
Dhanush, the first indigenous long-range artillery
gun has been inducted into the Indian Army.
• The 155 mm calibre artillery gun was
manufactured by the Jabalpur-based Gun
Carriage Factory.
• After the induction of M-777 ultra-light
howitzers in November 2018, the country's
first indigenously designed and developed
Dhanush gun has been inducted in the Indian
army.
• This is expected to add more firepower to the
armed forces.
• Dhanush Gun system can be employed in all
types of terrain and is one of the new
generations towed artillery gun system
better-upgraded features over the existing
Bofors.
Revolt Intellicorp announces India’s first AI-
enabled e-motorcycle]
Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma has announced
his new venture Revolt Intellicorp Pvt Ltd that will
be making smart electric two-wheelers and
connected devices.
• The e-motorcycle is supposed to be launched
in June this year.
• For now, the company has only let out some
crucial specifications of the bike. As per it,
the bike will be able to cover over 150 km on
a single charge.
• The company is headquartered in Gurgram
with a manufacturing facility in Manesar,
Haryana.
Government sells Rs 1,150 crore worth enemy
shares in Wipro
The government has sold enemy shares worth around
Rs 1,150 crore in information technology firm Wipro
Ltd.
• Apart from Life Insurance Corporation,
General Insurance Corporation and The New
India Assurance Corporation have bought the
shares.
• The Custodian of Enemy Property for India is
an entity of the central government which
looks after enemy property and shares.
Points to Remember
• As per the Enemy Property Act, 1968,
‘enemy property’ refers to any property that
was belonging to a person who migrated from
India to an enemy country when war broke
out.
Justice Pradeep Nandrajog takes oath as new
Chief Justice of Bombay High Court
Justice Pradeep Nandrajog took oath as the new
Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
• He was d the oath by Maharashtra Governor
C Vidyasagar Rao at the Raj Bhavan.
• Justice Nandrajog was serving as the Chief
Justice of the Rajasthan High Court since
March 2017, following his transfer from the
Delhi High Court.
Points to Remember
• Maharashtra Capital: Mumbai
• Governor: C. Vidyasagar Rao
• Chief minister: Devendra Fadnavis
CRPF celebrated its 54th Valour Day
President Ram Nath Kovind paid homage to the
martyrs of police at National Police Memorial in
New Delhi on the occasion of 54th Valour Day of
Central Reserve Police Force.
• 9th April is celebrated as Valour Day in the
Force.
• The President also launched the App - Veer
Parivar for assistance to next of kin of
Martyrs of CRPF personnel.
• The Central Reserve Police Force is India's
largest Central Armed Police Forces. It
functions under the authority of the Ministry
of Home Affairs of the Government of India.
IIT-Madras tops HRD's national ranking of
institutes
President Ram Nath Kovind released the national
ranking of higher institutes by the Ministry of Human
Resources Development in New Delhi.
• Indian Institute of Technology Madras
topped the rankings while the Indian Institute
of Science, Bangalore bagged the second
rank followed by IIT Delhi.
• Delhi University's Miranda House was
ranked the best among colleges across the
country.
• AIIMS has been ranked first among medical
sciences institutes and National Law School,
Bangalore has topped law colleges.
International Convention on World
Homoeopathy Day
A two day convention is being organised on 9-10th
April 2019 by the Central Council for Research in
Homoeopathy (CCRH) on the occasion of the World
Homoeopathy Day.
• It is an autonomous research organization
under Ministry of AYUSH.
• The World Homoeopathy Day is observed to
commemorate the birth anniversary of the
founder of Homoeopathy, Dr. Christian
Fredrich Samuel Hahnemann.
RBI issued norms for banks to set up currency
chests
The Reserve Bank of India came out with guidelines
for banks to set up new currency chests, which
include minimum area of 1,500 square feet for strong
room.
• Besides, the new chests should have a
processing capacity of 6 lakh pieces of
banknotes per day.
• For those situated in the hilly/ inaccessible
places, the capacity of 1 lakh pieces of
banknotes per day.
• Earlier, a RBI appointed committee had
recommended that the apex bank should
encourage banks to open large currency
chests with modern facilities and Chest
Balance Limit (CBL) of at least Rs 1,000
crore.
IMF scales down India's growth projection for
current fiscal to 3%
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has
moderately scaled down India’s economic growth
projection to 3 per cent for the current financial year
from its earlier forecast of 4 per cent.
• Despite this, the country will remain the
fastest-growing large economy as the nearest
competitor China's growth is pegged at 6 per
cent, 3 per cent and 1 per cent for 2018, 2019
and 2020, respectively.
Online Harms White Paper
The UK Department of Digital, Culture, Media and
Sport in association with Home Office have released
the Online Harms White Paper.
• The White paper sets out a programme of
action to tackle content or activity that harms
individual users, particularly children, or
threatens our way of life in the UK, either by
undermining national security or by
undermining our shared rights,
responsibilities and opportunities to foster
integration.
'Desi Bofors' Dhanush inducted in Army in bid
to modernise artillery
In an important step towards upgrading the combat
power of the artillery, the Ordnance Factory Board
(OFB) handed over the first six Dhanush 155
millimetre (mm) artillery guns to the army.
• This is part of an order for 114 guns being
delivered by the OFB’s Gun Carriage
Factory, Jabalpur.
• The Dhanush is also called the “Desi Bofors”,
having been developed from blueprints
supplied by Bofors in the 1980s, when India
bought 400 Swedish FH-77B howitzers.
Decolourisation of River Periyar
The River Periyar in Kerala is again witnessing the
decolourisation. The decolourisation of River Periyar
which provides drinking water to Kochi city.
• The pollution control Board (PCB) has
attributed the change in colour to the poor
quality of water as a result of eutrophication.
• River Periyar flows in the state of Kerala. It
originates in the Western Ghats and flows
north for a short distance to Periyar Lake.
• Periyar Lake is an artificial reservoir created
by Mullaperiyar Dam across the river. From
the Periyar Lake, tunnel carries water through
mountains to the Vaigai River in Tamil Nadu,
where it is used for irrigation.
India builds a maternity hospital in Nepal
India has built a 25-bed maternity hospital in Nepal.
• The hospital has been built under the
Government of India's Small Development
Projects Scheme.
• Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh
Puri inaugurated the Chandra Narayan Yadav
Memorial Maternity Hospital in Siraha
district.
• The Hospital will provide quality maternity
and health care services to the people of 50
Village Development Committees in and
around Siraha district.
• It will also help in reducing maternal and
child mortality rate.
India's population grew at a 2 % average annual
rate between 2010 and 2019: UN report
India's population grew at an average annual rate of
2 per cent between 2010 and 2019, according to a
report by the United Nations Population Fund.
• It is more than double the annual growth rate
of China
• India's population in 2019 stood at 36 billion.
• In comparison, China's population stood at 42
billion in 2019
• China's population grew at an average annual
rate of 0.5 per cent between 2010 and 2019
Bold Kurukshetra 2019: Singapore, India joint
military exercise kicks off
Military forces of India and Singapore got together
to participate in a joint exercise in Babina
Cantonment in Jhansi.
• The three-day exercise, ‘Bold Kurukshetra–
2019’, is being conducted to develop military
technology, boost maritime security and
bolster the nations’ fight against terrorism.
• The two countries had signed a cooperation
agreement to strengthen the defence ties
between the Indian Military and Singapore
Armed Forces in November 201
Govt retains interest rate for General Provident
Fund at 8%
The government has retained the interest rate for
General Provident Fund (GPF), Contributory
Provident Fund and other related schemes at 8 per
cent for the first quarter of the current financial year.
• The interest rate on these funds was at 8 per
cent in the January-March quarter of 2018-19
and government kept it unchanged for April
to June for 2019-20.
• The interest rate will be applicable on
provident funds of central government
employees, railways and defence forces.
TCS, Google partner to build industry-specific
cloud solutions
India's largest software services firm Tata
Consultancy Services (TCS) has collaborated with
tech giant Google to build industry-specific cloud
solutions.
• These solutions will help organisations
accelerate their digital transformation and
leverage data-driven insights that power
superior customer experiences.
• TCS' solutions on the Google cloud platform
will help enterprises build secure, cloud-
native analytics platforms, and are cost-
effective, easy to maintain, and future ready.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu get the fifth
term
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party
has won 36 seats and surpassed the main rival, the
Blue and White party in the 2019 Israel election.
• The results were released by the committee
after two days of counting ballots and delays
caused by computer malfunctions.
• The results mean Netanyahu is heading for a
record fifth term in office and would become
Israel's longest-serving Prime Minister.
Points to Remember
• Capital: Jerusalem
• Currency: Israeli new shekel
PM Modi awarded with Russia’s highest state
honour
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been conferred
on the Order of St Andrew the Apostle highest state
decoration of Russia.
• He was decorated with the award for his
exceptional services in promoting a special
and privileged strategic partnership between
Russian and India.
• In 2017, Chinese president Xi Jinping was
awarded the Order of St Andrew the Apostle.
• Recently, PM Modi has been awarded the
United Arab Emirates's top honour as well as
of countries including South Korea, Saudi
Arabia, Palestine and Afghanistan.
India, Sweden ink pact to collaborate on
solutions for smart cities, clean tech
India and Sweden launched a joint programme that
will work towards addressing a range of challenges
around smart cities and clean technologies among
others.
• The programme was co-founded by the
Indian Department of Science and
Technology (DST) and Swedish agency
Vinnova.
• Vinnova will provide funding to Swedish
participants up to 2,500,000 Swedish Krona
(around Rs 87 crore) as a grant.
• On the Indian side, a conditional grant of up
to 50 per cent (with a limit of Rs 5 crore) per
project will be provided to the Indian
partners.
DoT approved the merger of TTSL and Bharti
Airtel
The Department of Telecom has given approval for
the merger of Tata Teleservices (TTSL) with Bharti
Airtel.
• The merger is subject to the condition that the
Sunil Bharti Mittal-led firm furnishes Rs
7,200 crore worth bank guarantee.
• The merger will be taken on record after
Airtel submits a bank guarantee of about Rs
6,000 crore for one-time spectrum charges
and another Rs 1,200 crore for the spectrum
that would be acquired from TTSL.
• As part of the proposed agreement, Airtel will
absorb Tata consumer mobile business
(CMB) operations in 19 telecom circles.
Points to Remember
• Bharti Airtel CEO: Gopal Vittal
• Headquarters: New Delhi
Google launches a new cloud platform, Anthos
Google launched Anthos, a new open platform from
Google Cloud, that lets users run applications from
anywhere.
• Anthos allows users to run applications,
unmodified, on existing on-premise hardware
or on the public cloud.
• It is based on the Cloud Services Platform
that Google announced last year.
• Anthos is a completely software-based
solution. Users can set it up on existing
hardware, claimed Google.
NGT forms the Central Monitoring Committee
to prepare a national plan for polluted rivers
A bench headed by NGT (National Green Tribunal)
Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel has formed
a Central Monitoring Committee to enforce a
national plan to reduce the river pollution.
• It will make over 350 river stretches across
the country pollution free as it has caused a
serious threat to the safety of water and
environment.
• The Central Monitoring Committee will also
coordinate with the River Rejuvenation
Committees of the states and oversee the
execution of the action plans.
Namami Gange gets approved with Global
recognition at Global Water Summit
The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was
awarded the distinction of “Public Water Agency of
the Year” at the Global Water Summit in London.
• The Global Water Awards are presented at
the Global Water Summit, the major business
conference for the water industry worldwide.
• The awards recognise excellence across the
international water industry and reward those
initiatives in the water, wastewater, and
desalination sectors, which bring remarkable
improvements in the lives of people.
Retail inflation inches up to 86% in March
Retail inflation saw a marginal rise of 86 per cent in
March this year on account of increase in prices of
food articles and fuel.
• According to the data released by
the Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation, the inflation based on the
Consumer Price Index was 57 per cent in
February this year.
• On a yearly basis, it was 28 per cent in March
201
Navy gets virtual reality centre for designing
warships
Admiral Sunil Lanba, the Chief of the Naval Staff,
inaugurated the maiden ‘state-of-the-art’ Virtual
Reality Centre (VRC) at the Directorate of Naval
Design, New Delhi.
• This centre would provide a major boost to
the Indigenous warship design capabilities of
the Indian Navy.
• It will provide impetus to self-reliance and
greater fillip to warship construction under
“Make in India” initiative of the Indian
government.
• This project will facilitate collaborative
design reviews for continuous interaction
between the designers and the end users to
improve design and ergonomics onboard
warships.
Tata Trusts, Microsoft join hands to support
handloom weaving community
Tata Trusts and Microsoft India inked a pact to
jointly rejuvenate handloom clusters in the eastern
and north-eastern parts of the country.
• Both the entities have signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) in this regard.
• Tata Trusts and Microsoft will leverage each
other's strengths to provide business and
communication skills, design education and
digital literacy to handloom weavers so that
they may build a sustainable future.
Points to Remember
• Google CEO: Sundar Pichai
Ambedkar Jayanti: 14 April
Ambedkar Jayanti or Bhim Jayanti marks the birth
anniversary of Bhimrao Ambedkar or BR Ambedkar
- the "Father of The Indian Constitution".
• Celebrated on April 14, Ambedkar Jayanti
honours the Dalit icon who dedicated his life
working for the upliftment of untouchables,
women and labourers.
• Dr BR Ambedkar not just gave India its
Constitution, but also played a key role in the
formation of Reserve Bank of India - the
country's central banking institution.
• The government has declared a public
holiday on 14 April for all Central
government offices, including industrial
establishments, throughout India.
Giant six-engine aircraft lands its first flight in
California
The world's largest aeroplane designed by
Stratolaunch with two fuselages and six Boeing 747
engines, made its first test flight in California, USA.
• The mega jet carried out its maiden voyage
over the Mojave desert.
• It is designed to carry into space and drop a
rocket that would ignite to deploy satellites.
• The aircraft is so big its wingspan is longer
than a football field, or about 5 times that of
an Airbus A380.
Different harvest festivals being celebrated in
several parts of the country
• President Ram Nath Kovind have greeted the
nation on Vaisakhi, Vishu, Rongali Bihu,
Naba Barsha, Puthandu Pirappu.
Points to Remember
• The list of the various new year and harvest
festivals with their associated states is as
follows:
• Vishu: Kerala
• Rongali Bihu: Assam
• Puthandu Pirappu: Tamil Nadu
• Poila Baisakh: West Bengal
• Maha Vishuba Sankranti: Odisha
NGT directs MoEF to submit a report on the
constitution of Biodiversity Management
Committees
National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to
submit a report on the constitution of Biodiversity
Management Committees (BMC) at the local level in
every state within three months.
• A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice
Adarsh Kumar Goel also asked the states who
have not constituted the committees to file an
affidavit stating the reason for the delay.
• The tribunal on August 8 last year had
directed a monitoring committee comprising
officials from the Ministry of Environment
and Forests and National Biodiversity
Authority to furnish a report.
Points to remember
• Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change: Harsh Vardhan
India successfully test fires sub-sonic cruise
missile 'Nirbhay'
India successfully test-fired it's first indigenously
designed and developed long-range sub-sonic cruise
missile 'Nirbhay' from a test range in Odisha.
• The missile can be deployed from multiple
platforms.
• It was test-fired at the Integrated Test Range
(ITR) at Chandipur.
• The missile is capable of loitering and
cruising at 0.7 Mach at altitude as low as 100
meters.
CMFRI joins hands with ISRO to protect coastal
wetlands
The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute
(CMFRI) and the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) have joined hands to map,
validate and protect smaller wetlands in the coastal
belt of the country.
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
was signed between the CMFRI and the
Space Applications Centre (SAC) of the
ISRO to develop a mobile app and a
centralised web portal with a complete
database of wetlands smaller than 25 hectares
in the country.
• As per the MoU, the two scientific institutes
will identify and demarcate wetlands, and
restore the degraded wetlands through
suitable livelihood options like coastal
aquaculture.
Points to Remember
• Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute
(CMFRI) Headquarters: Kochi
World Hemophilia Day: 17 April
Every year April 17 is celebrated as World
Hemophilia Day to increase awareness about
haemophilia and other bleeding disorders.
• This year, the theme of World Hemophilia
Day is ‘outreach and identification’.
• Haemophilia is an inherited genetic disorder
that weakens the ability of the body to clot
blood.
• The deficiency of a clotting protein in the
blood leads to haemophilia.
WHO raises alarm over 300% increase in case of
measles globally
The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised
alarm over a 300 percent increase in the case of
measles globally in the first quarter of 2019
compared with last year.
• The UN body said provisional data has
indicated a clear trend, with all regions of the
world seeing outbreaks.
• So far this year, 170 countries have reported
112,163 measles cases to WHO.
• Measles is a highly contagious infectious
disease caused by the measles virus.
Points to Remember
• WHO Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
• Founded: 7 April 1948
Supreme Court bans mining activities along
Kaziranga park
The Supreme Court has banned all mining activities
along the Kaziranga National Park and catchment
area of rivers originating in Karbi Anglong Hills in
Assam.
• A bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra
and Deepak Gupta issued a notice to the
Assam government and sought its reply
within three weeks.
• The mining activity in this area were
resulting in environment degradation and
habitat destruction in an important elephant
and tiger habitat.
Points to Remember
• Kaziranga National Park: Golaghat and
Nagaon districts, Assam
• It is famous for one-horned rhinoceros.
Mahavir Jayanti celebrated with traditional
fervour
The birth anniversary of 24th and last Jain Tirthankar
Lord Mahavir was celebrated across the country on
17 April.
• It is one of the most sacred days for Jain
people.
• The followers of Lord Mahavir celebrate this
festival by chanting prayers, offering Prasad
and participating in chariot processions.
Points to Remember
• First tirthankara of Jainism: Rishabhanatha;
Symbol: Bull
• Last tirthankara of Jainism: Mahavira ;
Symbol: Lion
AUSINDEX-19 Concludes
The Australian and Indian Navy have concluded a
two-week long bilateral maritime exercise code-
named AUSINDEX.
• The current edition of the exercise had the
participation of the highest number of units
thus far with four frontline ships with integral
helicopters, one submarine and a variety of
aircraft.
• For the first time, 55 American and 20 New
Zealand military personnel embarked
onboard the RAN ships and witnessed the
exercises during AUSINDEX-19
• The third edition of the exercise which
commenced on 02 Apr 19 included a series of
advanced warfare drills in all three
dimensions comprising anti-submarine
warfare exercises, air defense exercises and
cross deck flying.
Home Expo India 2019 begins
The 8th edition of Home Expo India 2019 began at
India Expo Centre and Mart in Greater Noida.
• It covers sectors with maximum thrust and
growth potential in home decor, furnishing,
furniture, flooring and textiles.
• About 500 companies in permanent marts
will be exhibiting their collection under these
categories.
• The three-day exhibition has been organized
by the Export Promotion Council for
Handicrafts.
TikTok vanishes from Google Play Store after
Madras HC ban
Google and Apple have blocked access to popular
Chinese video making application TikTok in India.
• Madras High Court that had directed the
Centre to ban TikTok app over concerns
about access to pornographic content through
it.
• The Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology (MeitY) order will only stop
future downloads of TikTok.
• People who already have the app downloaded
in their devices will be able to continue using
it on their smartphones.
Coast Guard patrol ship Veera commissioned
Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat
commissioned the Indian Coast Guard Ship Veera at
a ceremony held at Visakhapatnam.
• Veera is third in the series of offshore patrol
vessels of the Coast Guard.
• It is built by L&T at its shipbuilding facility
at Kattupalli in Chennai.
• The commissioning of Veera will enhance
the Indian Coast Guard’s operational
capability to discharge its multifarious
maritime tasks.
NASA detects Universe’s first molecule in space
Scientists have detected the most ancient type of
molecule in our universe in space for the first time
ever.
• Helium hydride ion (HeH+) was the first
molecule that formed when falling
temperatures in the young universe allowed
recombination of the light elements produced
in the Big Bang.
• At that time, ionised hydrogen and neutral
helium atoms reacted to form HeH+.
India drops down on World Press Freedom Index
India has dropped two places on a global press
freedom index to be ranked 140th out of 180
countries in the annual Reporters Without Borders
analysis.
• The index is an indicator of how hatred of
journalists has degenerated into violence in
countries across the world.
• Six Indian journalists were reportedly killed
in the year 2018 owing to their work.
• Norway is ranked first in the 2019 Index for
the third year running while Finland has
taken the second place.
Mali's PM Soumeylow Boubeye Maiga resigns
Mali’s Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga
has resigned along with his whole government.
• He has resigned following a motion of no
confidence over its failure to handle violence
in the West African country.
• Legislators had discussed a possible motion
of no confidence in the government because
of last month's massacre and failure to disarm
militias.
Points to remember
• Mali Capital: Bamako
• Currency West African CFA franc
Gangandeep Kang is the first Indian woman
scientist to be elected Royal Society Fellow
Dr Gagandeep Kang made history by becoming
India’s first woman to be made a Fellow of the
prestigious Royal Society London.
• Kang is a leading scientist in India and her
main research focus is on viral infections in
children and the testing of rotavirus vaccines.
• Kang currently serves as the executive
director of the Translational Health Science
and Technology Institute (THSTI),
Faridabad.
• Fellowship of the Society is one of the most
coveted honours in the scientific world and
some of history's greatest scientists like Isaac
Newton (1672), Charles Darwin, Albert
Einstein (1921), were associated with it.
Tokyo-based Terra Drone inks pact with IIT
Hyderabad
Terra Drone Corporation, a Tokyo-based industrial
drone solutions provider along with its subsidiary
Terra Drone India has signed a tripartite
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IIT-
Hyderabad.
• The MoU has been signed to co-establish the
first-of-its-kind Centre of Excellence (CoE)
for Unmanned Aerial Solutions (drones) in
India.
• Terra Drone is actively working to implement
unmanned traffic management (UTM) for
drones for various government departments
in India.
Indian Navy launches Guided-missile destroyer
'Imphal'
The Indian Navy launched guided missile destroyer
‘Imphal’ at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai.
• Imphal is the third ship to be launched under
a project in which ships are built to carry and
operate two multiple role helicopters.
• Enhanced stealth features have been achieved
through the shaping of hull and use of radar
transparent deck fittings which make the
ships difficult to detect.
Civil Services Day: 21 April
The Civil Service Day is celebrated on 21 April every
year.
• The purpose of this day is to rededicate and
recommit themselves to the cause of the
people.
• On this occasion, all officers of Central and
State Governments are honoured for
excellence in public administration by the
Prime Minister of India.
Points to Remember
• The Civil Services refer to the career
bureaucrats who are the permanent executive
branch of the Republic of India.
• The civil service system is the backbone of
the administrative machinery of the country.
Bhopal gas tragedy among the world's major
industrial accidents of the 20th century: UN
The 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy which killed thousands
of people is among the world's "major industrial
accidents" of the 20th century according to a UN
report.
• UN warned that 78 million workers die from
occupational accidents and work-related
diseases each year.
• The report released by the UN labour agency
International Labour Organization (ILO) said
that in 1984, at least 30 tons of methyl
isocyanate gas, which was released from the
Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal,
affected over 600,000 workers and nearby
inhabitants.
• The report titled 'The Safety and Health at the
Heart of the Future of Work - Building on 100
years of experience' said the Bhopal disaster
was among the world's "major industrial
accidents after 1919".
Points to remember
• International Labour Organization
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
• Head: Guy Ryder
Naval Commanders’ Conference 2019/1
The first edition of Naval Commanders’ Conference
of 2019 is scheduled at New Delhi from 23 to 25
April 2019
• The conference is the apex forum within the
Service for interaction between the Naval
Commanders.
• The Chief of the Naval Staff, with the
Commanders-in-Chief, will review major
operational, material, logistics, Human
Resources, training and administrative
activities undertaken during the previous six
months and deliberate upon the course to be
steered in the ensuing six months.
SpiceJet, Emirates sign MoU for codeshare
partnership
Budget carrier Spicejet announced the signing of an
initial pact for codeshare partnership with Gulf
carrier Emirates.
• The reciprocal partnership will allow the
opening of new routes and destinations for
passengers of the two airlines.
• SpiceJet passengers from 51 domestic
destinations will be able to access Emirates'
network across the US, Europe, Africa and
the Middle East.
• Code-sharing allows an airline to book its
passengers on its partner carriers and provide
seamless travel to destinations where it has
no presence.
Points to remember
• Spice Jet Headquarters: Gurugram
• CEO: Ajay Singh
MOU signed between Ministry of AYUSH and
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was
signed between the Ministry of AYUSH and Council
of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) at New
Delhi.
• The MoU has been signed for cooperation in
research and education in areas of traditional
systems of medicine and its integration with
modern science.
• Previously, CSIR jointly with Department of
AYUSH developed the Traditional
Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), a
globally recognized proprietary database on
Indian systems of medicine for preventing
bio-piracy and misappropriation of our
traditional knowledge.
• Points to Remember
• AYUSH: Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy,
Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy
• Ministry of AYUSH officeholder: Shripad
Naik
Nasim Zaidi quits Jet Airways board
Jet Airways' non-executive and non-independent
director Nasim Zaidi has quit the board.
• Mr Zaidi, the former Chief Election
Commissioner and ex-civil aviation
secretary, joined the Jet Airways board in
August last year.
• The airline has ceased all its operations
temporarily last week and is under the
management control of SBI-led consortium
of lenders following a debt-recast plan.
IIM-Bangalore becomes only Indian institute to
feature in QS EMBA Rankings 2019
The Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore
(IIM-B) has once again made a mark at the global
level.
• The institute's post-graduate programme in
Enterprise Management (PGPEM) has
secured the 12th rank in APAC listing and
came 61st globally in the QS Executive MBA
Rankings 2019
• It is the only Indian B-school to secure a place
among the top 100 B-Schools across the
world.
• QS Rankings uses parameters such as
leadership, executive profile, diversity,
career outcomes, etc, for ranking.
India extends a ban on import of Chinese milk
products
The government extended the ban on import of milk
and its products, including chocolates, from China.
• The ban was first imposed in September 2008
and extended subsequently from time to time.
• The ban was imposed on apprehensions of
the presence of melamine in some milk
consignments from China.
• Melamine is a toxic chemical used for
making plastics and fertilisers.
• Although India does not import milk, milk
products from China, it has imposed the ban
as a preventive measure.
Indian Coast Guard Vessel C-441 commissioned
A new Coast Guard vessel C- 441 has been
commissioned at Vizhinjam harbour in Kerala.
• Indian Coast Guard Ship C- 441 is capable to
undertake multifarious tasks such as close
coast surveillance, interdiction, search and
rescue and rendering assistance to boats in
distress at sea.
• It will enhance the search and rescue capacity
of Kerala seas.
• The ship is commanded by Assistant
Commandant Amit K Choudhary and has 13
crew onboard with specialisation in various
fields.
Real life 'Padman' makes it to Fortune's World
Leaders List
India’s original “Padman” Arunachalam
Muruganantham has been featured on Fortune
magazine's list of world’s 100 greatest leaders.
• He became famous for producing low-cost
sanitary napkins.
• He ranks 45th in the list and is featured along
with stalwarts from various walks of life such
as Bill and Melinda Gates, Jacinda Ardern,
and Robert Mueller.
• Bill Gates topped the chart due to the massive
charity work they have done.
Bimal Jalan panel on RBI's capital size to submit
the report by June
A high-level panel led by former RBI governor
Bimal Jalan, set up to decide the appropriate capital
reserves that the central bank should maintain, is
likely to submit its report by June.
• The six-member Jalan panel was appointed
on December 26, 2018, to review the
Economic Capital Framework for the RBI.
• The committee was to submit its report in 90
days from the first day of its meeting, which
was held on January
• The panel has got an extension beyond its
three-month term.
Cultural Festival begins in Guwahati
South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC) of
Ministry of Culture, Government of India is
organizing Madhya Dakshini Festival 2019
• The festival is being celebrated in
collaboration with North East Zone Cultural
Centre (NEZCC) from April 25 to 28, 2019
in four venues of Guwahati.
• In the festival, around 100 folk artists from
Central India, states from Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Andra
Pradesh will perform vibrant and colourful
folk dances showing the rich cultural heritage
of India.
• The inauguration of the festival was
organized at Shilpgram of NEZCC at
Panjabari, Guwahati.
Major cyclone Fani, likely to cross Tamil Nadu
A red alert has been declared in Tamil Nadu for April
30 and May 1 as a major cyclone, Fani, is likely to
hit the north coast of the state over the two days.
• Fishermen have been advised not to venture
out into the sea during the coming week.
• The India Meteorological Department (IMD)
said that after gaining more strength, the
cyclonic circulation has finally induced a
low-pressure area.
• The system is formed over Equatorial Indian
Ocean and adjoining the southeast Bay of
Bengal.
Indian Army signs MoU with NHPC for
construction of tunnels on China, Pakistan
borders
Indian Army signed an MoU with National
Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (NHPC).
• The MoU is for the construct tunnels on
borders with China and Pakistan for storage
of ammunition and other war-related
equipment.
• Under the pilot project, three tunnels will be
built on China border while one will be built
along the Line of Control with Pakistan.
• The project is meant to bolster the Indian
Army's capabilities along the Chinese border.
Orange alert in Gujarat
Following the sudden spurt in heat across Gujarat,
the state health department has issued an 'Orange
Alert'.
• The warning is issued with temperatures
likely to touch 44 degrees Celsius according
to the weather department.
• Meteorological Centre (MC) Ahmedabad
released warning for a heat wave in multiple
regions of Gujarat for the next 48 hours.
Points to remember
• Capital: Gandhinagar
• Chief minister: Vijay Rupani
• Governor: Om Prakash Kohli
• Rajya Sabha Seats: 11
• Lok Sabha Seats: 26
Wirecard partners RBL Bank to drive financial
inclusion
Wirecard announced an expanded partnership with
RBL Bank to promote financial inclusion in India.
• This partnership will make digital payment
and banking transactions more readily
accessible to all Indian citizens, including
those living in remote areas.
• In partnership with RBL, Wirecard will
empower its retail agents to enable the
financially under-served to access basic
payment and banking services.
• These include cash withdrawals and deposits
as well as balance enquiries.
4. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to
attend SCO Defence Ministers' meet in Bishkek
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence
Ministers' meeting in the Kyrgyzstan capital
Bishkek.
• Mrs Sitharaman will also hold bilateral
meetings with her counterparts from some
SCO member countries on the sidelines of the
conclave.
• The SCO Defence Ministers will explore
ways to further boost defence and security
cooperation among the member countries.
Points to remember
• The SCO was founded at a summit in
Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of China,
Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan.
• India and Pakistan became its full members
in 2017.
• Kyrgyzstan is the Chair of the SCO at
present.
1. Defence Ministry-PSU to build 8 anti-
submarine shallow watercrafts
Kolkata-based defence shipyard Garden Reach
Shipbuilders & Engineers signed an Rs. 6,311-crore
contract with the Defence Ministry to build eight
anti-submarine warfare shallow watercraft for the
Indian Navy.
• The first vessel is to be delivered within 42
months from the contract, that is by October
2022.
• The ASWSWCs are equipped with
sophisticated sonar, with an algorithm that
differentiates the signals reflected off the
enemy submarine from those bouncing off
the sea bed.
• These vessels will also have the ability to
sprint fast for short bursts.
2. Wipro Consumer Care acquires Splash
Corporation
Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCL) has
acquired the Philippines-based personal care maker
Splash Corporation.
• WCCL is the consumer care business of
software provider Wipro Ltd.
• Splash Corporation is among the top five
local companies in the Philippines, where it
gets 85% of its annual revenue of around $80
million.
• The transaction is expected to strengthen the
consumer care portfolio in personal care apart
from completing its South East Asian
footprint.
Points to Remember
• Wipro chairman: Azim Premji
• Headquarters: Bangalore
Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank to merge with Bank of
Baroda
Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will merge with Bank
of Baroda (BoB) to create the third-largest lender of
the country.
• The government-forced merger, announced
in September last year, creates the third
largest bank in the country after State Bank
of India and HDFC Bank.
• All customers of Dena Bank, which is under
prompt corrective action (PCA) framework
of the RBI, will have renewed access to credit
facilities immediately.
• To make the merger a smooth affair, the
government last week decided to infuse 5,042
crore rupees in Bank of Baroda to enhance its
capital base to meet the additional expense.
• Branches of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank will
function as Bank of Baroda outlets from
April following the amalgamation.
Points to Remember
• This is the second merger of state-run banks
in recent years in the banking sector after
State Bank had merged five of its associate
banks from April 201
Reserve Bank to inject USD 5 billion more
liquidity into the banking system
The Reserve Bank of India will inject long-term
liquidity worth 5 billion US Dollars into the banking
system.
• It will inject through a dollar-rupee buy-sell
swap for a tenure of three years on April 2
• The move intends to meet the durable
liquidity needs of the system.
• It is the second such auction within a month.
• Earlier, on March 26, the central bank had
bought USD 5 billion through similar swap
auction in a bid to ease liquidity ahead of
elections.
Kotak Bank first lender to charge for UPI use
Kotak Mahindra Bank (Kotak) told its customers that
it will charge customers for UPI transactions starting
first of May 2019
• The bank said every month, for each Kotak
Bank account, the first 30 UPI fund transfers
will be free, after which a charge will be
levied on all fund transfers from the bank
account.
• This will be applicable across all platforms,
including Paytm, PhonePe, Google Pay or
Truecaller Pay among others.
• The bank will charge Rs 50 per transaction
for an amount value below or equal to Rs
1,000, and Rs 5 per transaction will be levied
for a payment value above Rs 1,000.
RBI sets WMA Limit for Government at Rs
75000 crore for H1 of 2019-20
The Reserve Bank of India, in consultation with the
Government of India, has decided that the limits for
Ways and Means Advances (WMA) for the first half
of the financial year 2019-20 (April 2019 to
September 2019) will be Rs 75000 crore.
• The Reserve Bank may trigger fresh
floatation of market loans when the
Government of India utilises 75% of the
WMA limit.
• The Reserve Bank retains the flexibility to
revise the limit at any time, in consultation
with the Government of India.
• The interest rate on WMA will be Repo Rate
and overdraft will be 2% above the Repo
Rate.
Reliance Jio acquires Haptik for Rs 700 crore
Reliance Industries Ltd announced that its subsidiary
Reliance Jio has acquired Mumbai-based Haptik for
about Rs 700 crore.
• Haptik is one of the world's largest
conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI)
platforms.
• Reliance will hold about 87 per cent of the
business, with the rest being held by Haptic's
founders and employees via stock options.
• With this acquisition, Jio, with its widespread
reach, will be in a formidable position to
challenge Amazon's Alexa and Google
Assistant.
Paytm Money receives Sebi approval to start
stock broking services
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)
has given approval to Paytm Money to start offering
broking services.
• According to reports, it had applied for the
licence in October last year.
• Paytm Money has also received membership
of NSE and BSE.
• To handle the broking operations, Paytm
Money is looking to set up a team to deal with
settlements, trade, risks, treasury and other
functions of a broking house.
• The broking services will allow investors to
trade in the cash segment, derivatives,
exchange-traded funds (ETFs), among other
listed entities.
RBI cuts repo rate by 25 basis points
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut its repo rate
under liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis
points to 6%, with immediate effect.
• This is the second consecutive rate cut from
RBI under new Governor Shaktikanta Das,
after a rate cut in February.
• Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the
LAF stands adjusted to 75 per cent, and the
marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the
Bank Rate to 25 per cent.
RBI tweaks LCR norms to boost liquidity
In a bid to further improve the cash position of banks,
RBI has tweaked liquidity coverage ratio (LCR)
norms to provide an additional 2 per cent window to
lenders.
• This move will harmonise the liquidity
requirements of banks and release additional
money for lending.
• LCR indicates the proportion of highly liquid
assets held by banks to ensure their ability to
meet short-term obligations.
NTPC signs Rs 2,000 cr term loan pact with
Canara Bank
State-run NTPC has inked a term-loan agreement
with Canara Bank to raise Rs 2,000 crore.
• The loan has a door to door tenure of 15 years
and will be utilised to part finance the capital
expenditure of the NTPC.
• In February this year, NTPC had signed a
term loan agreement for Rs 5,000 crore with
State Bank of India.
• The loan facility from SBI was also aimed at
part financing the company's capital
expenditure.
• Points to Remember
• Canara Bank Headquarters: Bangalore,
Karnataka, India
• Chairman: Shri T. N. Manoharan
GMR Hyderabad International to raise USD 300
mn in the international bond market
GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL), a
subsidiary of GMR Airports announced that it had on
April 03, 2019 successfully priced an offering of
US$ 300 Mn bonds in the international bond market.
• GHIAL has entered into a Purchase
Agreement to issue and allot US$ 300 Mn
375% senior secured notes of 5-year tenure.
• The proceeds from the Notes will be used
towards the capital expenditure with respect
to the master plan (expansion) of the Rajiv
Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad.
• It will be used in increasing the capacity of
the Airport to 34 Mn Passengers Per Annum
(MPPA).
BSE, India INX become first Indian exchanges to
sign MoU with Moscow Exchange
BSE and India International Exchange (India INX)
have signed a memorandum of understanding with
Moscow Exchange (MOEX).
• The MoU has been signed to connect investor
community and companies in both countries
besides allowing a capital formation
platform.
• BSE and India INX are the first Indian
exchanges to enter into the MoU with
Moscow exchange.
• The exchange companies have agreed to the
secondment of senior personnel to enhance
understanding of activities in each other's
market.
Lakshmi Vilas Bank to merge with Indiabulls
Housing
Chennai-based Lakshmi Vilas Bank is set to merge
with Indiabulls Housing Finance in a share-swap
deal.
• It reflects the trend of consolidation in the
financial services sector.
• The boards of both entities approved the
merger proposal.
• The shareholders of Lakshmi Vilas Bank
(LVB) will get 14 shares of Indiabulls
Housing Finance (IBHF) for every 100 equity
shares held in the bank.
Points to Remember
• Lakshmi Vilas Bank Headquarters: Chennai
CCI approves L&T's proposal to acquire up to
615% stake in Mindtree
Larsen and Toubro (L&T) have secured the approval
of Competition Commission of India (CCI) to
acquire a controlling stake in Mindtree.
• The competition watchdog has allowed L&T
to acquire up to 615 per cent stake in the
Bengaluru-based IT services firm.
• With this, the engineering and construction
major has cleared the first step in its hostile
takeover of Mindtree.
• Stake acquisition deals beyond a certain limit
need CCI's approval to go through.
SBI cuts interest rates on home loans
The State Bank of India has re-priced home loans up
to Rs 30 lakh by 10 basis points.
• The interest rate on housing loans of such size
will now be in the range of 6 to 9 per cent.
• The bank has also lowered its lending rates
by a nominal five basis points across all
tenors.
• This is the first reduction by SBI in over 17
months.
HDFC AMC ranks first, ICICI AMC second in
terms of assets
HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd has claimed the
top spot with an average AUM of ₹42 trillion.
• It overtook ICICI Prudential Asset
Management Co. Ltd with an average AUM
of at ₹20 trillion.
• India’s asset management companies
(AMCs) own assets under management
(AUM) worth ₹246 trillion, according to data
released by the Association of Mutual Funds
in India (Amfi).
Banks close FY19 with 124% credit growth and
deposits up to 03%
According to the Reserve Bank data released, bank
credit rose 124 per cent to Rs 967 lakh crore for the
fortnight to March 29
• The deposits grew by 03 per cent to Rs 1272
lakh crore during the same period.
• This is the second consecutive double-digits
credit growth after the same had declined to
54 per cent in FY17 at Rs 741 lakh crore,
which was the lowest since 196
• Personal loans rose 17 per cent in February
2019, down from 20.4 per cent in February
201
RBL Bank ties up with CreditVidya for
improving the customer experience
RBL Bank has partnered with credit profiler
CreditVidya to improve the lender's customer
experience.
• Through this partnership, the private sector
lender will be able to gain significant insights
into its customer base.
• The bank had first partnered with
CreditVidya in 2018 for instant and
automated verification of employment details
of salaried card applicants.
• CreditVidya helps lenders and wallets assess
risk of customers.
PAISALO, SBI sign first co-origination loan
agreement to empower MSMEs
PAISALO Digital Limited signed the first co-
origination loan agreement with State Bank of India.
It is the first agreement of its kind in the country that
State Bank of India has signed.
• Introducing a platform for the last mile
customer, the loan ticket is designed at Rs
10,000 to 2 lakh.
• PAISALO Digital Limited is a leading
systemically important non-deposit taking
NBFC registered with the Reserve Bank of
India, in operations since 199
• The agreement was signed with a vision of
empowering the AGRI, MSME segment and
small businesses.
Bajaj Finserv launches industry first proposition
to pay electricity bill on EMIs
Bajaj Finance Ltd. has launched the #BijliOnEMI
campaign wherein customer buying air conditioners
will also have the option to pay for their electricity
bill on EMI.
• Customers buying air conditioners of Rs
20,000 and above will be eligible for an
Instant Credit loan of Rs 5000.
• For those purchasing air conditioners above
Rs 40,000 will receive Rs 7000 as an Instant
Credit loan to their Wallet.
• This will assist the customer to pay the
installations charges of the air-conditioner
and their electricity bills on EMI.
BoM partners with M1Xchange for MSME bill
discounting
State-owned Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has
partnered with M1Xchange TReDS platform for
MSME bill discounting.
• Trade Receivables Discounting System
(TReDS) is a digital platform to support
micro, small and medium enterprises
(MSMEs) to get their bills financed at a
competitive rate through an auction where
multiple registered financiers can participate.
• Mynd Solutions is a technology management
firm which runs the TReDS platform of
M1Xchange.
• The main purpose of TReDS platform is to
facilitate smooth flow of liquidity in the
system and make finance available at a
competitive rate.
BoB, Srei Equipment Finance Ltd joins hand to
offer joint loans
Srei Equipment Finance Ltd and Bank of Baroda will
come together to offer joint loans for infrastructure
equipment under a new agreement.
• The partners will be able to leverage each
other's customers and cross-sell their
products.
• Srei's 'iQuippo' platform will facilitate the
sourcing of loans under this arrangement.
Points to remember
• Bank of Baroda Headquarters: Vadodara,
Gujarat
• CEO: P. S. Jayakumar
SBI General launches cyber defence insurance
for businesses
SBI General Insurance has launched a product to
protect businesses from financial and reputational
losses due to cyber attacks.
• In the initial phase, the focus will be on SMEs
and mid-market businesses, but later the
product can cater to larger business
conglomerates as well.
• This offers protection against the growing
threat of cyber breaches.
• It is designed to protect against major
insurable cyber exposures like hacking
attacks, identity theft, disclosure of sensitive
information and business interruption.
BEML and Syndicate Bank sign MoU
Syndicate Bank and BEML Limited, a 'Miniratna'
Public Sector Undertaking, have signed an MOU for
financing Earth Moving and Construction
Equipment manufactured by BEML.
• Under the MOU, BEML will nominate
Syndicate Bank as a preferred financier for
financing its customers.
• The customers under the tie-up arrangement
will be provided loans in the range of Rs 20
Lakh to Rs 300 Lakh and preferential pricing
by Syndicate Bank.
Lakshmi Vilas Bank to raise Rs 1816 crore via
preferential shares sale to Indiabulls Housing
Finance
Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) proposes to raise Rs
1816 crore by allotting 99 per cent of its shares at Rs
112 a piece on a preferential basis to Indiabulls
Housing Finance Ltd.
• Earlier this month, the private sector lender
had announced its merger with Indiabulls
Housing Finance Ltd (IBHL) in a share-swap
deal.
• The board of LVB has approved the merger
with IBHL in which shareholders of the bank
will get 14 shares of IBHL for every 100
shares they hold.
RBI approves the proposal of HDFC for holding
a 9.9% stake in Bandhan Ban
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its nod to
HDFC Ltd for acquiring up to 9.9 per cent stake in
Bandhan Bank following the Gruh Finance deal.
• Gruh Finance, the affordable housing finance
arm of HDFC Ltd, was taken over by
Bandhan Bank in a share-swap deal in
January 2019.
• The scheme remains subject to the approvals
from the National Company Law Tribunal
and the respective shareholders of Gruh
Finance and Bandhan Bank.
Government raises authorised capital of
Allahabad Bank to Rs 8,000 crore
State-owned Allahabad Bank said on April 23 the
government has increased its authorised capital by
Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 8,000 crore.
• The central government after consultation
with the Reserve Bank of India has increased
the authorised capital of the bank.
• The increase in authorised capital will enable
the bank to raise further fund up to a
maximum ceiling of Rs 8,000 crore.
Points to remember
• Headquarters: Kolkata
• Founded: 24 April 1865
• MD & CEO: S. S. Mallikarjuna Rao
RBI divests its entire stake in NABARD and
NHB
Based on the recommendation of the second
Narasimham Committee, the Reserve Bank has
divested its entire stake in National Housing Bank
(NHB) and the National Bank for Agriculture and
Rural Development (NABARD).
• RBI has sold the entire stake worth twenty
crore rupees in NABARD and 1,450 crore
rupees in NHB in the last quarter of 2018-19.
• With this, the government now holds a 100
per cent stake in both these financial
institutions.
RBI to issue new Rs 20 denomination banknotes
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon release
new banknotes of Rs 20 denomination in the
Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series.
• It will bear the signature of RBI Governor
Shaktikanta Das.
• The new denomination has the motif of the
Ellora Caves on the reverse.
• The base colour of the note is greenish
yellow.
• All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs
20 issued by the RBI in the earlier series will
continue to be legal tender.
• The dimension of the new Rs 20 note will be
63 mm x 129 mm.
Sebi reduces minimum net worth requirements
for clearing corp in IFSC
Sebi has reduced the minimum required level for
clearing corporations operating in international
financial services centre.
• They should have at least Rs 100 crore net
worth from three years of commencing
operations.
• This net worth requirement in the form of
liquid assets has been brought down from the
earlier Rs 300 crore.
• However, the minimum net worth required to
be held in liquid assets for clearing
corporations on the commencement of
operations remains the same as Rs 50 crore.
Points to Remember
• SEBI Headquarters: Mumbai
• Chairman: Ajay Tyagi
Vijay Chandok to head ICICI Securities
ICICI Securities has appointed Vijay Chandok as an
additional director and as a Managing Director and
CEO of the company with effect from May 7, 2019.
• Vijay Chandok, presently Executive Director
of the ICICI Bank, has tendered his
resignation from the board of the bank to take
effect at the end of the day on May 6, 2019.
• A subsidiary of ICICI bank, the company said
that Shilpa Kumar has tendered her
resignation as the Managing Director and
CEO and also a director of the company with
effect from May 6, 2019.
• She will be taking up a senior level position
at ICICI Bank Limited, the company said.
• Chandok is also on the boards of ICICI Bank
UK PLC and ICICI Bank Canada.
Air Marshal NS Dhillon appointed as new
Strategic Forces Command chief
Fighter pilot Air Marshal NS Dhillon has been
appointed as the new Strategic Forces Command
Chief.
• The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) is
tasked to look after the strategic nuclear
arsenal of the country and is a part of India's
Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) headed
by PM Narendra Modi.
• Dhillon graduated from the National Defence
Academy in Khadakwasla in Pune and later
attended Defence Services Staff College in
Wellington Cantonment and National
Defence College in New Delhi.
• The SFC was created on January 4, 2003, by
the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government and
Air Marshal Teja Mohan Asthana became the
first commander-in-chief of the SFC.
Sawhney takes over as Chief Executive of ICC
The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced
that Manu Sawhney will assume the position of Chief
Executive with immediate effect.
• Sawhney has been working alongside the
outgoing Chief Executive David Richardson
for the last six weeks.
• Richardson will remain with the ICC until
July as originally planned to oversee the
delivery of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup
2019.
Points to Remember
• ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 Hosts:
England, Wales
Eicher Motors appoints Vinod Dasari as Royal
Enfield CEO
Eicher Motors Ltd. has appointed Vinod K. Dasari as
the chief executive officer of Royal Enfield.
• Dasari will also join the board of Eicher
Motors as an executive director with
immediate effect.
• He stepped down as managing director and
CEO of Ashok Leyland on March 3
• Mr Dasari takes over from Siddhartha Lal,
who will continue as the MD of Eicher
Motors Ltd.
Senior US Treasury official David Malpass
selected as President of World Bank
Senior US Treasury official David Malpass has been
selected as President of the World Bank.
• The World Bank's executive board
unanimously selected 63-year-old Malpass as
the bank's 13th President for a five-year.
• The World Bank President is Chair of Boards
of Directors of the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development and
International Development Association.
Points to Remember
• Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United
States
• Membership: 189 countries (IBRD); 173
countries (IDA)
Men's hockey team gets Graham Reid as coach
Australian Graham Reid's appointment as the men's
national team chief coach till the end of 2020 was
ratified after Hockey India received necessary
clearance from the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
• Reid's tenure will be till the end of next year.
As per industry standards, every international
coach's contract is supposed to be for an
Olympic cycle.
• But his contract will have a provision of
extension till 202
• Everything will depend on India's
performances leading upto the Tokyo
Olympics.
SUN Group chairman Vikramjit Sahney names
as the new president of ICC India
SUN Group Chairman Vikramjit Singh Sahney
elected as the new president of International
Chamber of Commerce (ICC) - India.
• He will succeed in Jawahar Vadivelu.
• The International Chamber of Commerce is
the largest, most representative business
organization in the world.
Points to Remember
• Founded: 1919
• Headquarters: Paris, France
Vikram Nath appointed as first Chief Justice of
new Andhra Pradesh High Court
Justice Vikram Nath, the senior most judge of
Allahabad High Court, was appointed on as the first
Chief Justice of the newly-constituted Andhra
Pradesh High Court.
• The Collegium of Supreme Court comprising
of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi
besides Judges S A Bobde and N V Ramana
recommended the name of Justice Vikram
Nath.
• The new Andhra Pradesh High court was
established on 1 January 2019 this year
following the division of a combined high
court of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Najma Akhtar becomes Jamia Millia Islamia’s
first woman vice chancellor
Professor Najma Akhtar was appointed Vice
Chancellor of New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia.
• She became the first woman to head the 99-
year-old university.
• Akhtar is the head of the Department of
Training and Capacity Building in Education
at the National Institute of Educational
Planning and Administration in New Delhi.
• She has been appointed Jamia vice chancellor
for five years.
• Akthar is also the first woman vice-
chancellor of any central university in Delhi.
Rajesh Kumar Yaduvanshi appointed as Punjab
National Bank Executive Director
Punjab National Bank (PNB) has appointed Rajesh
Kumar Yaduvanshi as the Executive Director of the
bank with effect from April 1
• He has also worked with Dena Bank in
capacity of the Executive Director.
• Yadivanshi, having 34 years of banking
career, had joined PNB as a management
trainee in 198
• With his joining, PNB now has three
Executive Directors, the others being L V
Prabhakar and A K Azad.
Mithali Raj named goodwill ambassador for
Street Child Cricket World Cup
Indian women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj has
been named the goodwill ambassador of Team India
at the Street Child Cricket World Cup (SCCWC).
• She, alongside Saurav Ganguly and
Rajasthan Royals, joins in supporting the
team as they gear up for the final match at
Lords, just ahead of the ICC Cricket World
Cup.
• The Street Child Cricket World Cup 2019
(SCCWC) is the first cricket world cup for
street-connected children.
• The tournament is being organised by Street
Child United (SCU), a UK based
organisation.
Jaideep Sarkar appointed as India's next High
Commissioner to South Africa
Jaideep Sarkar has been appointed as India's next
High Commissioner to South Africa.
• Sarkar, a 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service
officer, is currently serving as India's
ambassador in Bhutan.
• He served in Indian Missions in Tokyo, Seoul
and Bangladesh as well.
• The government also appointed Suhel Ajaz
Khan, presently serving as India's Deputy
Chief of Mission in Saudi Arabia, as the next
Ambassador to Lebanon.
Points to Remember
• South Africa capital: Pretoria is the
administrative capital, Cape Town is the
legislative capital and Bloemfontein is the
judicial capital.
• Currency: South African Rand
Deutsche Bank appoints Kaushik Shaparia as
CEO
Deutsche Bank appointed Kaushik Shaparia as the
chief executive officer for India to succeed Ravneet
Gill.
• Gill left the bank to head private lender YES
Bank earlier this year.
• Shaparia’s appointment will be effective
from May 2019.
• Shaparia served as Asia Pacific Head of
Corporate Banking Coverage within Institu-
tional and Treasury Coverage.
Twitter appoints Manish Maheshwari as India
MD
Twitter has appointed Manish Maheshwari as the
Managing Director of its India operations.
• Last year, Taranjeet Singh had stepped down
as the India Country Director and Balaji
Krish was given charge of leading the
country's operations in the interim period.
• Maheshwari, who previously served as the
CEO of Network18 Digital, takes over the
new role from April 29.
Points to remember
• Twitter CEO: Jack Dorsey
• Founded: 21 March 2006
• Headquarters: San Francisco, United States
Shri Rajendra Kumar Nayak Took Over as
CGDA
Shri Rajendra Kumar Nayak took over as the 52nd
Controller General of Defence Accounts.
• He is from the Indian Defence Accounts
Service of 1983 batch.
• Shri Nayak has held important assignments in
the Defence Accounts Department and on
deputation in the Government of India.
• He was Additional Controller General of
Defence Accounts, Defence Accounts
Department, Ministry of Defence before
taking over as the CGDA.
Karnam Sekar appointed as Indian Overseas
Bank’s new MD & CEO
Dena Bank’s former Managing Director Karnam
Sekar has been appointed as the new Managing
Director and Chief Executive Officer of Indian
Overseas Bank.
• Sekar is likely to take up the position from
July 1, 2019.
• At Indian Overseas Bank, he will take over
the charge from R Subramaniakumar.
Points to Remember
• Headquarters: Chennai
• Tagline: Good People to Grow With
Former army chief General Dalbir Singh
appointed Indian envoy to Seychelles
Former army chief General Dalbir Singh was named
as the Indian high commissioner India to Seychelles.
• Seychelles is an Indian Ocean island nation.
• Gen Singh was the army chief when India
carried out surgical strikes against terror
launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in
September 201
• He was the army chief from 2014 to 201
Points to remember
• Seychelles Capital: Victoria
• Currency: Seychellois rupee
3. Isac Doru appointed as AIFF technical
director
All India Football Federation (AIFF) appointed Isac
Doru as its new technical director.
• Doru was selected from a list of over 60
candidates who had applied for the post.
• The 56-year-old comes with a rich experience
of almost 29 years in international football
across several countries including France,
Japan, USA, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Qatar
amongst others.
Vikram Patel awarded the prestigious John
Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award
The Gairdner Foundation announced the 2019
Canada Gairdner Award laureates, recognising Goa
and Boston-based Vikram Patel.
• He has been awarded for his research career
raising the global profile of mental health
problems.
• Each year seven Canada Gairdner Awards are
presented to honour the world's most
significant biomedical and global health
researchers.
• Laureates receive a $100,000 cash
honorarium and will be formally presented
with their awards on October 24, 2019, at the
annual Canada Gairdner Awards Gala in
Toronto.
UAE confers prestigious Zayed Medal on PM
Modi
UAE has conferred the prestigious Zayed Medal on
Prime Minister Modi.
• It is the highest decoration awarded to kings,
presidents and heads of states.
• The award comes in appreciation of Prime
Minister Modi’s role in consolidating the
long-standing friendship and joint strategic
cooperation between the two countries.
• UAE express their appreciation for PM
Modi’s role and efforts in developing friendly
relations and extending bridges of
cooperation between the UAE and India in
various fields.
Shah Rukh Khan felicitated with an Honorary
Doctorate by London’s University of Law
After the honorary doctorates from The University of
Bedfordshire and The University of Edinburgh,
superstar Shah Rukh Khan has received an honorary
doctorate in Philanthropy by The University of Law,
London.
• The actor received the merit during a
graduation ceremony for more than 350
students.
• Over the years, he has established himself as
a successful actor, film producer, television
host, philanthropist and an entrepreneur.
• He has lent support to the Indian
government's campaigns, including Pulse
Polio and National Aids Control
Organization.
• He has worked closely with several charitable
foundations, including the Make-a-Wish
Foundation.
Tata Steel gets an award at Global Slag
Conference & Exhibition
Tata Steel has been named as the 'Global Slag
Company of the Year' at the 14th Global Slag
Conference and Exhibition 2019.
• The award was presented to Tata Steel for its
innovative practices in the development of
new applications for Steel by-products
(Slag).
• The award demonstrates global recognition
of Tata Steels commitment towards
sustainability & circular economy principles.
• The conference was held in Aachen,
Germany.
• It was one of the largest global annual slag
event, attended by major steelmakers, steel
mill service providers & associated
companies.
Telugu poet K Siva Reddy selected for
prestigious Saraswati Samman 2018
Telugu poet K Siva Reddy has been selected for the
prestigious Saraswati Samman, 2018 for his
collection of poetry titled ‘Pakkaki Ottigilite’.
• The award carries a cash prize of 15 lakh
rupees, a citation and a plaque.
• The award, instituted by the KK Birla
Foundation in 199
• It is given annually for an outstanding literary
work written in any Indian language and
published during the last 10 years.
Paralympian Deepa Malik named for New
Zealand Sir Edmund Hillary Fellowship
Rio Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik has
been named as the recipient of the New Zealand
Prime Minister's Sir Edmund Hillary Fellowship for
2019.
• She is the first Indian woman to earn a medal
at the Paralympic Games.
• The Fellowship Program has been running
since 2008, which aims to strengthen the
relationship between India and New Zealand
by showcasing the different aspects of the
warm friendship between the two countries.
• NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant was the
recipient of this prestigious fellowship in 201
Journalists jailed in Myanmar to receive U.N.
Press Freedom Prize
Two Reuters journalists who are currently serving
seven-year prison sentences in Myanmar are to be
awarded a prize for press freedom by the U.N.’s
cultural organization.
• The 2019 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press
Freedom Prize is being awarded to Wa Lone
and Kyaw Soe Oo
• The award carries prize money of $25,000.
Points to Remember
• UNESCO: United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
• Headquarters: Paris, France
• Head: Audrey Azoulay
The New York Times, Wall Street Journal
awarded Pulitzer Prizes
The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal
were awarded Pulitzer Prizes for their separate
investigations of President Donald Trump and his
family.
• The South Florida Sun Sentinel won the
Pulitzer for public service for its coverage of
failings by school and law enforcement
officials before and after the February 2018
massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
School.
• The Associated Press won a Pulitzer for
international reporting for its coverage of the
war in Yemen.
• Reuters was honoured for international
reporting for its coverage of atrocities
committed against Rohingya Muslims in
Myanmar.
Points to remember
• The Pulitzer Prize is an award for
achievements in newspaper, magazine and
online journalism.
• Each winner receives a certificate and a
US$15,000 cash award.
Malayalam film "Bhayanakam" wins best
cinematography award at Beijing International
Film Festival
Malayalam film "Bhayanakam" (Fear) directed by
Jayaraj won the best cinematography award at the
Beijing International Film Festival.
• The cinematography was done by Nikihil S
Praveen.
• The film had also won the best
cinematography award at the 65th National
Film Awards.
• The film portrays the visits of first World
War veteran to a small village in the
backwaters of Kerala's Kuttanand as a
postman during the World War-II.
BCCI recommends four cricketers for Arjuna
award
The BCCI recommended cricketers Mohammad
Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam
Yadav for the Arjuna award.
• The decision was taken during a meeting of
the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of
Administrators in New Delhi.
• 25-year-old Bumrah is currently playing in
the IPL for Mumbai Indians.
• Pacer Shami has been a crucial cog in the
Indian bowling set up.
• All-rounder Jadeja has also made a comeback
in the limited overs team and has been named
in the 15-member squad for the World Cup.
• The 27-year-old leg-spinner, Poonam, is the
fourth name to be nominated for the coveted
award.
4. Raheem Sterling named 2019 FWA footballer
of the year
Raheem Sterling has been voted the 2019 Footballer
of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association.
• He was more than 100 votes ahead of
Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk.
• The FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year
award for 2019 was awarded to Manchester
City’s England forward player Nikita Parris.
Hamilton wins Bahrain Grand Prix
Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton claimed
a dramatic victory for Mercedes in the Bahrain Grand
Prix.
• He took advantage of Ferrari boy Charles
Leclerc's wretched misfortune.
• Leclerc came home third as the race finished
behind a Safety Car.
• Bottas stayed on top in the driver's
championship, one point ahead of Hamilton.
• Points to Remember
• Valtteri Bottas won the season-opening
Australian Grand Prix.
Roger Federer wins Miami Open
Roger Federer lifted the 101st title of his remarkable
career by winning the Miami Open.
• He defeated the defending champion John
Isner 6-1, 6-4 in just 63 minutes.
• Only American Jimmy Connors, with 109,
has more career singles titles than Federer.
• Isner struggled to continue late in the second
set, hampered by pain in his left foot.
• This is the fourth Miami open title for
Federer.
India finish with 16 gold medals at Asian Airgun
Championships
Indian shooters signed off with a total of 25 medals
at Asian Airgun Championships Taoyuan, Taipei.
• India finished with 16 gold, five silver and
four bronze.
• On the last day of the competition, Yash
Vardhan and Shreya Agrawal bagged three
gold medals each.
• Indian shooting's next assignment is
scheduled at Al Ain, UAE where the ISSF
Shotgun World Cup stage two commences on
April
Saurav Ghosal scripts history, beco`mes first
Indian male squash player to enter top 10 of PSA
rankings
Saurav Ghosal scripted history after he became the
first Indian male squash player to enter the top 10 in
the latest PSA world rankings.
• It was a first of sorts for any Indian male
squash player as before Saurav it was only
two Indian women players, Joshna Chinappa
and Dipika Pallikal had made it to the top 10
in the world rankings.
• Riding on his recent run of good
performances, Ghosal has moved up two
places to a career-high ranking of
• Egypt's world champion Ali Farag maintains
his position at the top of the ladder.
ICC to join hands with Interpol to fight
corruption in sport
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sought
closer working relations with the Interpol to widen
the scope of its fight against corruption in the sport.
• The cooperation was discussed during ICC
Anti-Corruption Unit General Manager, Alex
Marshall's visit to the Interpol headquarters
in Lyon, France.
• Marshall said the idea is to ensure that players
are better educated about the corruptors and
Interpol's vast network would be helpful in
this.
Points to Remember
• The International Criminal Police
Organization is more commonly known as
Interpol.
• It is an international organization that
facilitates worldwide police cooperation.
• Headquarters: Lyon, France
Indian football team rises two places to 101 in
FIFA rankings
The Indian football team gained two places to rise to
101 in the new FIFA rankings.
• With 1219 total ranking points, the Indian
team lies 18th among the Asian countries.
• Iran continued to top the Asian rankings at
21, followed by Japan (26), South Korea (37),
Australia (41) and Qatar (55).
• Overall, Belgium remained on top with 1737
points, ahead of France (1734), Brazil (1676),
England (1647) and Croatia (1621).
ITBP organises first National Sky Running
Championship
Border guarding force Indo Tibetan Border Police
(ITBP) along with Sky Running Association of India
organised the National Sky Running Championship
at Mountaineering and Skiing Institute of ITBP at
Auli in Uttarakhand.
• This is the first time such championship was
organised at a high altitude of up to 4000
metres.
• The high altitude marathon was organised for
both junior and senior categories from April
4 to April 5, 2019.
• Various athletes from ITBP, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh,
Haryana and Uttarakhand participated in the
championship.
Points to Remember
• The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is
one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces
of India, raised on 24 October 1962, under the
CRPF Act.
• The ITBP was intended for deployment
along India's border with Tibet.
India clinch 7 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze in Ghana
Junior & Cadet Open
In table tennis, India's young paddlers clinched seven
gold, three silver and two bronze medals in the
Ghana Junior & Cadet Open, an ITTF Junior circuit
event.
• Ananya Chande and Diya Chitale, both from
Maharashtra, proved to be stars of the
weekend, accounting for nine medals - seven
gold, one silver and one bronze.
• Ananya also cornered a silver in the junior
doubles along with Ruby Chan of England
and a bronze in the junior girl's singles.
All India Football Federation President Praful
Patel becomes 1st Indian to be elected as a
member of FIFA Executive Council
All India Football Federation president Praful Patel
has become the first Indian to be elected as a member
of the FIFA Executive Council.
• He got 38 out of 46 votes.
• Mr Patel was one of the eight candidates
vying for the spot in the election which was
held during the 29th Asian Football
Confederations Congress in Kuala Lumpur.
• The membership in the council will be for
four years, from 2019 to 202
Virat Kohli becomes all-time leading IPL scorer
Virat Kohli overtook Suresh Raina to become the
leading run-scorer in the Indian Premier League.
• Up against Kolkata Knight Riders, Kohli also
became the 2nd fastest after Chris Gayle to
reach 8000 T20 runs.
• Till date, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina are
the only two players to score 5000 runs in the
IPL. Both men got to the landmark this year.
• Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) is 3rd in the
list of most runs in the IPL with 4600 runs.
• David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad) is 4th
with 4278 runs.
Lin Dan clinches Malaysia Open
Chinese badminton ace Lin Dan clinched the
Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur.
• After an electric performance, he beat
countryman Chen Long 9-21, 21-7, 21-1
• The title is Lin's first win this year, and also
his first major success since taking the
Malaysia Open in 201
India bow out of 2020 Olympic Qualifying
tournament
In Football, Indian women's team bowed out of the
2020 Olympic Qualifying tournament in Mandalay
on goal difference despite a 3-3 draw against
Myanmar.
• Both India and Myanmar were on six points
from two games but Myanmar enjoyed a
better goal difference of (8) compared to (4)
of India.
• India had begun their campaign with a
victory against Indonesia 2-0 and thrashed
Nepal 3-1 in the second game.
Dream11 becomes the first Indian gaming
company to be a unicorn
Dream11, India's biggest sports game announced the
completion of a secondary investment by Steadview
Capital, an Asia-focused alternative asset manager.
• This investment marks Dream11's entry into
the 'Unicorn Club' as the first Indian gaming
company to achieve this milestone.
• Dream11 is the market leader with over 50
million users.
Virat Kohli and Smriti Mandhana named as
Wisden’s Leading Cricketers in the World
Indian captain Virat Kohli was named the ‘Leading
Cricketer in the World’ for the third time in a row in
this year’s edition of the Wisden Cricketers’.
• This is the third time in a row that the Indian
captain gained this title.
• Smriti Mandhana was the Leading Cricketer
in the women’s game.
• Kohli also won the ICC’s cricketer, test and
one-day international player of the year
awards in January 2019.
Tiger Woods bags fifth Masters at Augusta
Golf icon Tiger Woods has won his fifth Masters, the
first major of the season play this week at the
Augusta National course.
• This came 14 years after his first victory here
in 200
• Tiger has undergone several back operations
and endured a series of personal vicissitudes
over the past 11 years.
• His earlier Masters victories came in 1997,
2001, 2002 and 200
Meena Kumari Maisnam clinches gold in Boxing
World Cup
India finished with 5 medals in the Boxing World
Cup which concluded at Cologne, Germany.
• Meena Kumari Maisnam continued her fine
run to win gold in the 54 kg.
• Reigning youth world champion Sakshi (57
kg) and India Open champion Pwilao
Basumatary (64 kg) settled for the silver.
• Pinki Rani (51 kg) and Parveen ( 60 kg) won
bronze.
Lewis Hamilton wins Formula One's 1,000th race
Lewis Hamilton won the 1,000th Formula One
Grand Prix.
• This was world champion Hamilton’s sixth
victory at the Chinese Grand Prix and second
in a row this season.
• He grabbing the lead from Mercedes team-
mate Valtteri Bottas at the first corner and
powering to victory in Shanghai.
• Max Verstappen of Red Bull was fourth and
Charles Leclerc was fifth.
Points to Remember
• Lewis Hamilton 2019 team: Mercedes
Gelete Burka and Abrha Milaw win 2019 Paris
Marathon
Ethiopian athletes Gelete Burka (women’s race) and
Abrha Milaw (men’s race) won the 43rd edition of
the Paris Marathon.
• They led a record 60,000 participants to the
finish line through the French capital.
• Milaw won the men’s race with a time of 2
hours: 07 minutes and: 50 seconds.
• Burka was the fastest woman with 2 hours:
22 minutes and: 48 seconds.
• In the wheelchair race, Julien Casoli won for
the third time.
• The Paris marathon is one of the world's most
popular running events.
Kento Momota beats Anthony Ginting to win
Singapore Open
Japan's Kento Momota won the Singapore
Badminton Open men’s singles title by beating
seventh seed Anthony Ginting 10-21, 21-19, 21-1
• In the women's final, Tai Tzu-Ying claimed
her second Singapore Open title with a 21-19,
21-15 victory over Japan's Nozomi Okuhara.
Harsheel Dani clinches Dutch International title
Former junior national champion Harsheel Dani
rallied from a game down against Mads
Christophersen of Denmark to clinch the Dutch
International badminton title in The Hague.
• Dani eased to a 15-21, 21-12, 21-13 win in
just 47 minutes.
• The 22-year-old missed out almost eight
months last year due to ankle surgery.
• Dani won the Ghana international crown last
year.
Chandigarh to host Asian Billiards, Snooker
Championships
Chandigarh will host the 18th Asian Billiards, the
20th Under-21 Asian Snooker Championship and the
3rd Ladies Asian Snooker Championship from April
27 to May
• Internationally renowned players from
around 15 Asian countries will be
participating in this championship.
• The current World Billiards Champion,
Pankaj Advani will spearhead the Indian
challenge.
• The championship is being organized under
the aegis of the Asian Confederation of
Billiard Sports (ACBS) and Billiards and
Snooker Federation of India (BSFI).
Bajrang regains top spot in world wrestling
rankings
India's Bajrang Punia has regained the world number
one spot in the men's 65-kilogram freestyle category
rankings.
• The rankings were released by United World
Wrestling.
• Punia, who won Gold in the Asian Games
and Commonwealth Games as well as a silver
in the World Championships last year.
• He had first reached the world number one
spot in November 2019.
• He won a gold medal at the Dan Kolov-
Nikola Petrov tournament in Bulgaria last
month.
Asian Athletics Championships begins in Doha
The Asian Athletics Championships begin in Doha.
• The Asian Athletics Championships is an
event organized by the Asian Athletics
Association.
• In the 2017 Championships held in
Bhubaneswar.
• In 2017, India had finished on top with a
record-breaking haul of 29 medals - 12 gold,
5 silver and 12 bronze. China had finished
second with 20 medals.
Services lift Santosh Trophy
In Football, the Services lifted the Santosh Trophy,
beating Punjab 1-0l in the final at Ludhiana.
• In the first half, both the teams were goal-
less. In the second half, Services scored the
lone goal and held on till the final whistle.
• The only goal in the match was scored by
Bikash Thapa in the 61st-minute.
Points to remember
• Santosh Trophy Most successful team: West
Bengal (32 titles)
India bag five medals including two silvers on
Day 1 at Asian Athletics Championship
India opened their account at the 23rd Asian
Athletics Championship in Doha, Qatar on when
Annu Rani won the silver medal in women’s javelin
throw.
• Parul Chaudhary bagged a bronze medal in
women’s 5000m race.
• Avinash Sable won a silver medal in men’s
3000m steeplechase.
• MR Poovamma finished third in women’s
400m with bronze and Gavit Murali Kumar
bagged another bronze medal for India in the
10,000m event.
Asia Badminton Championships to begins at
Wuhan in China
The Asia Badminton Championships began at
Wuhan in China.
• It will continue until the 28th of April.
• India will be represented by Kidambi
Srikanth and Sameer Verma in men's singles.
• P.V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will compete
in women's singles.
BCCI shifts IPL final from Chennai to
Hyderabad
The Indian Premier League final scheduled on May
12 was shifted from Chennai to Hyderabad.
• The decision came after the Tamil Nadu
Cricket Association (TNCA) failed to get
requisite permission from the government to
open the three closed stands.
Points to remember
• Chennai cricket stadium: M. A.
Chidambaram Stadium
• Hyderabad cricket stadium: Rajiv Gandhi
International Cricket Stadium
Bajrang Punia wins Gold in Asian Wrestling
Championship
World number one Bajrang Punia won a gold medal
to reclaim his Asian Championship crown.
• He defeated Kazakhstan's Sayatbek Okassov
12-7 in a nail-biting 65kg men's freestyle
final.
• It is Bajrang's second gold at this
championship, having won one in 201
• Another Indian Parveen Rana, lost to
Bahman Mohammad Teymouri of Iran in the
final 0-3 in 79kg category securing a silver
medal.
• In 97 Kg category, Satywart Kadian picked
a bronze medal defeating Haobin Gao of
China by 8-
Asian Athletics Championship concluded
India bagged four medals, including a Gold, on the
final day of the Asian Athletics Championships at
Doha.
• PU Chitra successfully defended her
Women's 1,500 metres Gold she had won in
201
• India ended at the fourth spot in the medals
tally with 3 Gold, 7 Silver and 7 Bronze.
• Bahrain topped the table with 11 Gold, 7
Silver and 4 Bronze.
• China was second with 10 Gold, 13 Silver
and 7 Bronze.
• India had won 29 medals - 12 Gold, 5 Silver
and 12 Bronze in the last edition in
Bhubaneswar in 2017, topping the medal
tally for the first time.
Pankaj Advani wins inaugural Asian Snooker
Tour title
India's Pankaj Advani defeated Ehsan Heydari
Nezhad of Iran 6-4 to claim the inaugural Asian
Snooker Tour title.
• The Indian had earlier defeated Aung Phyo of
Myanmar in the semifinal.
• Advani had earlier won the second leg of the
Tour in China.
Divya, Manju win bronze medals in Asian
Wrestling Championship
In Wrestling, India's Divya Kakran and Manju
Kumari bagged bronze medals for the country in the
women's competition of the Asian Championships in
Xi'an, China.
• Asian Games bronze-medallist Kakran
defeated Battsetseg Soronzonbold of
Mongolia via fall in the playoffs of the 68-
kilogram category.
• It was double delight for India as Manju also
secured a bronze medal earlier in the day by
beating Vietnam's Thi Huong Dao 11-
India bag two gold at ISSF World Cup
In Shooting, India opened its medal account with
gold each in 10 metres Air Rifle Mixed Team and 10
metres Air Pistol Mixed team events at the ISSF
World Cup in Beijing.
• Young shooters Manu Bhaker and Saurabh
Chaudhary took the top spot in the 10 metres
Air Pistol Mixed Team event.
• Also, Anjum Moudgil and Divyansh Singh
Panwar opened the country's gold account in
the 10 metres Air Rifle Mixed Team event.
Divyansh secures India's fourth Olympic quota
in shooting
India's Divyansh Singh Panwar secured the country's
fourth Olympic quota place in shooting by winning a
silver in the ISSF World Cup in Beijing.
• The 17-year-old teenager Divyansh finished
second in the 10m air rifle event in the
International Shooting Sport Federation
World Cup for pistol and rifle shooters.
This is India's fourth 2020 Tokyo Olympic quota
after Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela (10m air
rifle women) and Saurabh Choudhary (10m Air
Pistol men).
Shooter Abhishek Verma bags Gold at ISSF
World Cup
India's Abhishek Verma bagged a Gold medal in the
10-metre Air Pistol event at the International
Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup at
Beijing in China.
• He clinched the top honours with a total score
of 247 points.
• Russia's Artem Chernousov won the Silver.
• With the Gold, Abhishek has secured India's
fifth 2020 Tokyo Olympic quota.
Gurpreet, Sunil settle for silver at Asian
Wrestling Championship
India's Gurpreet Singh and Sunil Kumar settled for a
silver medal each in their Greco-Roman categories at
the Asian Wrestling Championships in Xi'an, China.
• Gurpreet had to be satisfied with a second
spot after being handed a 0-8 defeat by
Hyeonwoo Kim of Korea in the final of 77-
kilogram category.
• In 87 kilogram, Sunil Kumar failed to clinch
the top spot as he went down to Hossein
Ahmad Nouri of Iran in the title clash.
5. Valtteri Bottas wins the Azerbaijan Grand
Prix
Valtteri Bottas won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to
retake the Formula One world championship lead
from teammate Lewis Hamilton.
• Mercedes set an all-time record of four
consecutive one-twos at the start of a season.
• Sebastian Vettel was on able to score the third
position for Ferrari.
6. China's Ma Long captures the third world title
China's Ma Long captured a third ITTF-World table
tennis championships completing a dream comeback
after six months on the sidelines with a knee injury.
• The 30-year-old, nicknamed the 'Dragon',
defeated Sweden's Mattias Falck 4-1 in the
final.
• Ma Long now joins the elite club of male
paddlers, who have won the Worlds singles
for three consecutive times: Victor Barna and
China’s Zhuang Zedong being the others.
• Ma Long, current World No. 11, won the
Worlds crown in 2015 (Suzhou), 2017
(Dusseldorf) and 2019 at Budapest.
7. Ajinkya Rahane to play county cricket for
Hampshire
India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane becomes
first Indian to play county cricket for Hampshire.
• He will play in the County Championship
throughout the months of May, June, and
July.
• The right-handed batsman will replace South
Africa’s Aiden Markram.
Bajrang Punia to become first Indian to compete
at Madison Square Garden wrestling event
Asian champion Bajrang Punia is to become the first
Indian wrestler to fight at New York’s iconic
Madison Square Garden.
• Punia, who won the 65kg men’s freestyle
gold at the recent Asian championships, will
be among top wrestlers selected by the
American governing body for the May 6
tournament.
• The 25-year-old will take on two-time US
national champion Yianni Diakomahlis in the
“Grapple at the Garden” Beat the Streets
event.
• Punia has eight gold medals from his
previous nine international tournaments
including last year’s Commonwealth and
Asian Games.
Claire Polosak to be the first female umpire in
men's ODI
Australia's Claire Polosak made history by becoming
the first female umpire to stand in a men's one-day
international.
• She officiated in the final of the World
Cricket League Division 2 between hosts
Namibia and Oman.
• Polosak has already stood in 15 women's
ODIs, the first one in November 2016
between Australia and South Africa.
• She has also umpired the semi-final of the
Women's T20 World Cup in 2018 between
England and India and four matches at the
2017 Women's World Cup.
India finished on the top spot at ISSF World Cup
India topped the standings at the International
Shooting Sport Federation, ISSF World Cup in
Beijing.
• India bagged four medals comprising 3 Gold
and a Silver.
• China followed India in the Beijing edition
by bagging 2 gold, as many silver and a
bronze.
• In the last edition in New Delhi, India had
jointly topped the standings with Hungary.
Japan's Kento Momota retains his Badminton
Asia Championships
There was a double golden delight for Japan at
Badminton Asia Championships.
• World number one Kento Momota retained
his Badminton Asia Championships title in
Shanghai.
• He defeated Shi Yuqi of China 21-12, 11-11,
21-18.
• There was more joy for Japan as Akane
Yamaguchi became the first Japanese to win
the women's crown by defeating He Bingjiao.
Economist VG Patel passes away
Noted economist, Viharidas Gopaldas Patel passed
away after a brief illness. He was 79.
• He was also known as the ‘Father of
Entrepreneurship Movement’ in India.
• In 2017, the Government of India had
decorated him with a Padma Shri for his
contribution to the entrepreneurship
movement.
• Patel had set up the Entrepreneurship
Development Institute of India (EDII) in
Ahmedabad in 1983 to work for potential and
existing entrepreneurs.
• EDII is now a globally-recognised institution
in this field.
MLA Jagan Prasad Garg passes away
BJP MLA Jagan Prasad Garg passed away. He was 6
• He suddenly fell ill and was admitted to a
hospital in Agra where he breathed his last.
• Jagan Prasad was elected MLA for the fifth
time from North Assembly constituency in
Agra.
• Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has condoled
his death.
Renowned Hindi poet Pradeep Choubey passes
away
Renowned Hindi poet Pradeep Choubey died of a
cardiac arrest in his home.
• Choubey (70) was the younger brother of a
celebrated humorist, satirist and poet Shail
Chaturvedi.
• Choubey, known for his humorous poetry
• He quit his job at Dena Bank to pursue his
passion for poetry and travelled across the
nation enthralling audiences with his
punches.
Noted Bengali folk singer Amar Pal dies in
Kolkata
Noted Bengali folk singer Amar Pal died in Kolkata
after a prolonged illness. He was 9
• He is one of the legendary figures to
popularise Bengali folk songs.
• His playback in Satyajit Ray directed Hirak
Rajar Deshe 'Kotai Ranga Dekhi Duniyay'
was one of the hit songs among Bengali
circles.
Former Indian footballer Pungam Kannan
passed away
Former India footballer Pungam Kannan died
following a prolonged illness.
• He played 14 matches for India & was the
former Mohun Bagan & East Bengal
forward.
• He also won Santosh Trophy for Bengal
twice in a row (1971-73) and was the top-
scorer.
• It was legendary German coach Dettmar
Cramer who had given him the best
appreciation by calling him 'Pele of Asia' in
1968.
Garuda Prakashan launches ‘#Modi Again’ and
‘Saffron Swords’
India’s publishing houses Garuda Prakashan
launched its next two books ‘#Modi Again’ and
‘Saffron Swords - Centuries of Indic Resistance to
Invaders’
• Aabhas Maldahiyar’s “#Modi Again: Why
Modi is right for India, An Ex-Communist’s
Manifesto" is the story of someone who was
raised on Communist ideology but grew to
question the dogmas he was taught in the
education system.
• Manoshi Sinha Rawal’s "Saffron Swords:
Centuries of Indic Resistance to Invaders" is
another book of timeless tales.
Prasar Bharati Chairman releases booklet of
'Selected speeches of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar in
the Constituent Assembly'
Prasar Bharati Chairman, A Surya Prakash released
a booklet of the 'Selected speeches of Dr Bhimrao
Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly', in New
Delhi.
• The event was organized to commemorate
the contributions of Baba Saheb in the
upliftment of underprivileged in the country.
• Mr Surya Prakash also called upon students
to read the speeches of Baba Saheb to have a
sense of respect towards his contribution in
Nation building.
Points to Remember
• Prasar Bharati CEO: Shashi Shekhar
Vempati
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Founded: 23 November 1997
Book on Jallianwala Bagh poem 'Khooni
Vaisakhi' released in UAE
A book containing English translation of the 100-
year-old classic Punjabi poem about Jallianwala
Bagh massacre, 'Khooni Vaisakhi' has been released
in Abu Dhabi.
• India's Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep
Singh Suri commended the launch of the
book, saying the ballad is now reaching a
global audience.
• The poem was translated by Mr Suri whose
grandfather, revolutionary poet and novelist
Nanak Singh, a Jallianwala Bagh survivor,
wrote it after witnessing first-hand the events
of April 13, 1919.
• The book was also released in New Delhi on
April 13, marking 100 years since the
Jallianwala Bagh massacre that took place in
Amritsar.
Q. Tianlian II-01satellite launched by China is a/an
________.
Communication Satellite
Navigation Satellite
Defence Satellite
Data Relay Satellite
Weather forecasting Satellite
Q. Election Commission has approved a request to
revise the wages under the MGNREGA scheme from
________.
1 April
10 April
1 May
1 July
1 August
Q. Who among the following has been appointed as
the head of ICICI Securities?
Rahul Prajapati
Sachin Patel
Vijay Chandok
N N Jha
Abhinav Singh
Q. Which among the following latest observation
satellite is launched by ISRO?
INSAT- 4C
EMISAT
GSAT
PSAT
ECSAT
Q. When was MNREGA launched?
2 Feb 2006
2 March 2008
1 April 2010
7 July 2006
7 July 2007
Q. Odisha was a part of which among the following
states before 1936?
West Bengal
Bihar
Jharkhand
Chhatisgarh
Andra Pradesh
Q. Odisha foundation day is also known as?
Solidarity Day
Utkal Divas
Orissa Divas
Swabhiman Divas
None of these
Q. Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank have been merged
with which of the following bank?
IndusInd Bank
State Bank of India
Punjab & Sind Bank
Bank of Baroda
Indian Bank
Q. Who among the following has been appointed as
new Strategic Forces Command chief?
Teja Mohan Asthana
NS Dhillon
Greg Bilton
Ajit Bhavnani
Jasbir Walia
Q. Who among the following has won the Miami
Open 2019?
Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic
Andy Murray
Roger Federer
John Isner
Q. World Autism Awareness Day is celebrated every
year on which of the following day?
30 March
31 March
1 April
2 April
3 April
Q. What is the capital of Algeria?
Port Louis
Algiers
Rabat
Tunis
Victoria
Q. Recently, Kandhamal haldi gets GI tag. It is
produced in which of the following Indian state?
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Odisha
Bihar
Madhya Pradesh
Q. India has signed three MOU for cooperation in the
fields of mining, culture and Empowerment of
persons with disabilities with which of the following
country?
South Korea
Chile
South Africa
Ethiopia
Paraguay
Q. In April 2018 which of the following city became
the first city in the country to leapfrog to Euro-VI
fuels?
Kolkata
Indore
Gandhinagar
New Delhi
Agra
Q. On April 23, The Reserve Bank of India will inject
long-term liquidity worth ________ US Dollars into
the banking system.
1 billion
2 billion
3 billion
4 billion
5 billion
Q. Who among the following takes over as Chief
Executive of International Cricket Council?
Shashank Manohar
Manu Sawhney
David Richardson
Lalit Modi
Anurag Thakur
Q. Who among the following has been appointed as
the CEO of Royal Enfield?
Rohit Pal
Sanjay Dhingra
Vinod Dasari
Shashank Singh
Jay Prajapati
Q. Indian teams finished with a total of ________
gold medals at the Asian Airgun Championships in
Taipei?
10
16
18
22
7
Q. Which of the following country will host ICC
Men's Cricket World Cup 2019?
Australia, New Zealand
England, Wales
India, Bangladesh
UAE, Saudi Arabaia
Cuba, Jamaica
Q. What is the capital of Malawi?
Lusaka
Lilongwe
Harare
Bamako
Mogadishu
Q. India will buy 24 MH 60 Romeo Seahawk
helicopters from which of the following country?
Russia
USA
France
Germany
Israel
Q. Recently opened Maitri Bridge has been built
across which of the following river?
Ravi
Jhelum
Indus
Chenab
Satluj
Q. Which of the following state has topped in
eLearning training for field staff?
Madhya Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Telangana
Punjab
Uttarakhand
Q. Which of the following bank has become the first
lender to charge for UPI use?
State Bank of India
Punjab National Bank
Kotak Mahindra Bank
HDFC Bank
Axis Bank
Q. What is the limit for Ways and Means Advances
(WMA) set for H1 of 2019-20 by Government of
India?
Rs 15000 crore
Rs 50000 crore
Rs 90000 crore
Rs 75000 crore
Rs 85000 crore
Q. Which of the following has platform has launched
‘tipline’ to tackle rumours ahead of elections?
Skype
Q. Who among the following became the first Indian
male squash player to enter top 10 of PSA rankings?
Harinder Pal Sandhu
Kush Kumar
Siddarth
Saurav Ghosal
Mahesh Mangaonkar
Q. Who among the following is the author of the
book "Saffron Swords: Centuries of Indic Resistance
to Invaders"?
Aabhas Maldahiyar
Manoshi Sinha Rawal
Major Surender Poonia
Ashok Shrivastav
Maj Gen GD Bakhshi
Q. India-Africa Institute of Agriculture and Rural
Development (IAIARD) will be set up in which of
the following country?
Zambia
Malawi
Burundi
Madagascar
Namibia
Q. Which of the following country launched the
world's first nationwide 5G mobile networks?
USA
China
Japan
South Korea
France
Q. International Day for Mine Awareness and
Assistance is observed every year on _________.
3 April
4 April
5 April
6 April
7 April
Q. NuGen Mobility Summit 2019 in November will
be organised at which of the following location?
Agra
Manesar
Greater Noida
Pune
Chennai
Q. Asian Development Bank, ADB has forecasted
India's growth rate for 2019 at ________.
7.1%
7.2%
7.5%
7.6%
6.9%
Q. Reliance Jio has acquired Artificial Intelligence
(AI) platforms named as ________ for Rs 700 crore.
Line
Practo
Haptik
Bixby
KakaoTalk
Q. Which of the following organisation has received
Sebi approval to start stock broking services?
ET Money
Ola Money
Paytm Money
Phone Pe
Google Pay
Q. Who has been elected as the Chicago’s first
African-American woman mayor?
Ann Williams
Kim Foxx
Susana Mendoza
Lori Lightfoot
Amara Enyia
Q. Who among the following has been awarded with
the prestigious John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global
Health Award?
Rahul Singh
Vikram Patel
Sachin Jaiswal
Sanju Divedi
Radha Pal
Q. The headquarters of International Criminal Police
Organization, Interpol are located in which of the
following country?
Germany
Russia
France
Austria
Spain
Q. International Day for Mine Awareness and
Assistance was first observed in which of the
following year?
2002
1999
2006
2003
2010
Q. BSNL have gained a licence form a British
telecommunications satellite company named as
________ to provide telecom services in airlines?
Inmarsat
Incom
Connect
Echostar
Iridium Communications
Q. The headquarters of the Bureau of Indian
Standards is located in which of the following city?
Chennai
Kolkata
New Delhi
Pune
Gwalior
Q. National Maritime Day is celebrated every year
on which of the following day?
2 April
3 April
4 April
5 April
6 April
Q. In reference to RBI, LAF stands for ________.
Light Adjustment Facility
Lower Adjustment Facility
Loan Adjustment Facility
Liquidity Adjustment Facility
Liability Adjustment Frequency
Q. What is the current Bank Rate?
5.25%
6.25%
6.5%
6.75%
7.0 %
Q. In reference to RBI, LCR stands for ________.
Liability Coverage Ratio
Liquidity Coverage Ratio
Loan Cover Ratio
Loan Cover Reach
None of These
Q. Which of the following country has conferred the
prestigious Zayed Medal to Narander Modi?
Oman
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Qatar
Yemen
Q. In April 2019, who among the following has been
conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by London’s
University of Law?
Salman Khan
Aamir Khan
Amitabh Bachchan
Ajay Devgan
Shahrukh Khan
Q. According to the latest FIFA rankings, India
ranks at ________ place?
80
101
92
116
56
Q. Which of the following team tops the new FIFA
rankings?
Belgium
France
Brazil
England
Croatia
Q. A 3-day National Cardiology Conference has been
inaugurated in which of the following city?
Pune
Gwalior
Ranchi
Lucknow
New Delhi
Q. Ugadi is the New Year's Day for the people of
________?
Punjab
Bihar
Andhra Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Q. In April 2019, To undertake joint research and
development of advanced technologies the Indian
Navy have signed an MoU with ________.
Defence Research and Development Organisation
Q. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
IIT Kharagpur
Bharat Electronics Limited
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
Q. The headquarters of Canara Bank is located at
________.
Chennai
New Delhi
Mumbai
Bangalore
Pune
Q. In April 2019, NTPC has signs Rs 2,000 cr term
loan pact with which of the following bank?
State Bank of India
Punjab National Bank
Canara Bank
Indian Bank
Allahabad Bank
Q. In April 2019, GMR Hyderabad International will
raise ________ in the international bond market.
USD 100 million
USD 200 million
USD 300 million
USD 400 million
USD 500 million
Q. BSE, India INX signed an MoU with Moscow
Exchange. BSE stands for ________.
Bharat Stock Exchange
Bombay Stock Exchange
Bharat State Exchange
Bombay Supreme Exchange
None of These
Q. Who among the following has been selected as the
president of World Bank?
Wilbur Ross
David Malpass
Christine Lagarde
Dina Powell
Geeta Gopinath
Q. The headquarters of World Bank is located in
which of the following city?
Vienna
Paris
New York
Washington
London
Q. Recently VG Patel passed away. He was a famous
________.
Writer
Economist
Hockey player
Politician
Singer
Q. In table tennis, the Indian team has won _______
gold medals in the Ghana Junior & Cadet Open.
4
6
7
10
15
Q. Who among the following has been elected as the
member of FIFA Executive Council?
Rahul Yadav
Praful Patel
Sanjay Gill
Naveen Tomar
Akshay Dhingra
Q. Lakshmi Vilas Bank will merge with ________.
LIC Housing Finance
DHFL
Indiabulls Housing Finance
Bajaj Finserv
None of These
Q. The headquarters of Lakshmi Vilas Bank is
located in which of the following city?
New Delhi
Pune
Mumbai
Chennai
Gandhinagar
Q. World Health Day is celebrated every year on
which of the following day?
4 April
5 April
6 April
7 April
8 April
Q. The headquarters of the World Health
Organisation is located in which of the following
city?
London
Paris
Rome
New York
Geneva
Q. India’s first carbon-positive settlement, Phayeng
Village is located in which of the following state?
Nagaland
Meghalaya
Manipur
Assam
Tripura
Q. About 66.15% stake in MindTree will be acquired
by which of the following company?
TCS
Reliance Industries
Larsen and Toubro
Wipro
None of these
Q. ITBP organised first National Sky Running
Championship in which of the following state?
Sikkim
Uttrakhand
Himachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Q. Indo-Tibetan Border Police were raised on
________.
10 December 1996
18 July 1999
24 October 1962
1 April 1954
18 April 1996
Q. Which of the following country has announced
long-term visas for best 100 Arab start-ups?
China
Oman
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Kuwait
Q. Pradeep Nandrajog took oath as new Chief Justice
of which of the following high court?
Allahabad High Court
Bombay High Court
Delhi High Court
Punjab High Court
Himachal Pradesh High Court
Q. Who among the following won Malaysia Open
title?
Chen Long
Lin Dan
Carolina Marin
Peter Gade
Manu Attri
Q. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft released an explosive
onto an asteroid. The spacecraft belong to which of
the following country?
China
Russia
USA
Japan
France
Q. The National Green Tribunal has slapped a
penalty of Rs 100 crore on which of the following
state for inaction to prevent illegal sand mining in the
state?
Jharkhand
Tamil Nadu
Madhya Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Assam
Q. Indian army have inducted Dhanush. It is a/an
________.
Long range Ballistic missile
Lightweight helicopter
Artillery Gun
Battle Tank
Sniper Gun
Q. Who among the following looks after enemy
property and shares in India?
State Government
Central Government
Reserve Bank of India
Owner Company itself
Enemy country
Q. Which of the following company has announced
India’s first AI-enabled e-motorcycle?
Bajaj
Hero MotoCorp
Revolt Intellicorp
Tata Motors
Eicher Motors
Q. On 5 April 2019, who among the following
became all-time leading IPL scorer?
Rohit Sharma
David Warner
Virat Kohli
David Warner
Rishabh Pant
Q. Who among the following is the governor of
Maharashtra?
BD Mishra
Jagdish Mukhi
Mridula Sinha
OP Kohli
C. Vidyasagar Rao
Q. Which of the following institute has topped in
national ranking of higher institutes of Ministry of
Human Resources Development?
IISc Bangalore
IIT Mumbai
IIT Madras
IIT BHU
None of these
Q. In which year Central Reserve Police Force was
established?
1938
1949
1966
1962
1959
Q. Recently which country's paramilitary force has
been designated as foreign terrorist organization by
USA?
Iraq
Iran
Syria
Libya
Russia
Q. 'Knesset' is the parliament of which country?
Japan
Canada
Israel
Germany
None of these
Q. Which of the following is India's largest Central
Armed Police Forces?
CRPF
CISF
BSF
SSB
None of these
Q. Which of the following college got first position
in the national ranking of higher institutes released
by HRD ministry?
Miranda House
Lady Shri Ram College for Women
Hansraj College
St Stephen's College
None of these
Q. The World Homoeopathy Day is observed to
commemorate the birth anniversary of the founder of
Homoeopathy. Who is the founder?
Samuel Hahnemann
George Vithoulkas
James Tyler Kent
Galen
None of these
Q. Graham Reid has been appointed as Coach of
men's national hockey team. He belongs to which
country?
England
Australia
West Indies
Sri Lanka
None of these
Q. Which railway station has become the India’s
first-ever railway station to get green ISO
certification?
Indore
Hyderabad
Guwahati
Nagpur
Bhopal
Q. Who has been appointed as president of World
Bank?
David Malpass
Steven Mnuchin
Larry Kudlow
Jeffrey Gerrish
None of these
Q. Which of the following is responsible for the
decolorisation of Periyar river?
Eutrophication
Deposition
Weathering
Carbon Dating
All of these
Q. Recently which country has released Online
Harms White Paper?
India
UK
Japan
Germany
Italy
Q. What is ‘Dhanush’?
Short Range Missile
Medium Range Missile
Submarine
Artillery Gun
None
Q. Which of the following has become the first
Indian gaming company to be a unicorn?
Dream 11
SportsXS
Libero Sports
Sports365
IMG
Q. What is the Indian Economy growth forecast by
IMF for current fiscal year?
7.0
7.3
7.6
6.9
8.1
Q. Kushagra Rawat is associated with which sports?
Boxing
Swimming
Badminton
Shooting
Chess
Q. Who has been named as female sportsperson of
the year at the ESPN India Multi-Sport Awards
2018?
Mary Kom
P V Sindhu
Saina Nehwal
Krishna Puniya
P Kashyap
Q. Global Cooling Coalition has recently been
launched in which of the following countries?
Denmark
Spain
Argentina
Chile
Japan
Q. Which of the following comes under Service
Voters?
Members of Armed Forces of the Union of India
Members of Armed Police forces of the States
serving outside
Persons employed under Government of India on
posts outside India
All of these
None
Q. Which of the following player has been named for
Wisden's 'Leading Cricketer', recently?
M S Dhoni
Virat Kohli
Shikhar Dhawan
Rohit Sharma
Harbhajan Singh
Q. In which among the following countries, India has
built a 25-bed maternity hospital?
Nepal
Bhutan
Srilanka
Myanmar
None of these
Q. Who among the following inaugurated the
Chandra Narayan Yadav Memorial Maternity
Hospital in Siraha district of Nepal?
Khadga Prasad Oli
Nilambar Acharya
Manjeev Singh Puri
Narendra Modi
Man Mohan Adhikari
Q. Recently, MLA Jagan Prasad Garg passes away.
He was elected MLA from which among the
following seat?
North Assembly constituency in Vishakhapatnam
North Assembly constituency in Delhi
North Assembly constituency in Agra
North Assembly constituency in Gwalior
North Assembly constituency in Patna
Q. Which among the following banks, ranks first in
terms of assets under management (AUM)?
ICICI AMC
KOTAK AMC
PNB AMC
HDFC AMC
SBI AMC
Q. Who among the following has been named as the
Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in women’s game?
Deepti Sharma
Ekta Bisht
Smriti Mandhana
Mithali Raj
None of these
Q. Who among the following won the ICC’s
cricketer, test and one-day international player of the
year awards in January 2019?
M.S Dhoni
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Cheteshwar Pujara
Virat Kohli
Shikhar Dhawan
Q. Which among the following cities became the first
city in the world to implement a special Ultra Low
Emission Zone (ULEZ)?
New York
London
Tokyo
Paris
Moscow
Q. Military forces of India and Singapore got
together to participate in a joint exercise Bold
Kurukshetra 2019, in which among the following
places?
Kanpur Cantonment in UP
Babina Cantonment in Jhansi
Danapur Cantonment in Bihar
The Police Cantonment Complex Pune
None of these
Q. Who among the following is the new president of
the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
India?
Narayanaswami Srinivasan
Zaheer Abbas
Vikramjit Sahney
Srinivasan
Shashank Manohar
Q. According to UN report, India's population grew
at a ________ average annual rate between 2010 and
2019.
1.0%
1.2%
1.6%
0.7 %
0.5%
Q. Which of the following company has carried out
its first commercial launch with its Falcon Heavy
rocket?
Neuralink
Tesla
SpaceX
The Boring Company
Blue Origin
Q. What is the capital of Sudan?
Mogadishu
Khartoum
Nairobi
Juba
Harare
Q. Who among the following has been removed from
the position of president of Sudan?
John Garang
Omar al-Bashir
Muammar Gaddafi
Ali Osman Taha
None of these
Q. Which of the following country has been named
as the Guest of Honour country at the Abu Dhabi
International Book Fair, ADIBF 2019?
India
China
Oman
Bangladesh
Japan
Q. Government retains interest rate for General
Provident Fund at ________.
8.2%
7%
7.8%
6.6%
8%
Q. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has collaborated
with which of the following company to build
industry-specific cloud solutions?
Yahoo
Microsoft
None of these
Q. Who among the following has been elected as the
Israeli Prime Minister for the 5th time?
Hassan Rouhani
Shimon Peres
Bashar al-Assad
Benjamin Netanyahu
Ariel Sharon
Q. Who among the following has been appointed as
the first Chief Justice of new Andhra Pradesh High
Court?
Vikram Nath
Jatin Kamal
Rahul Jeet Singh
Manohar Pal
Y.D Thakur
Q. Who among the following has been selected for
prestigious Saraswati Samman 2018?
Mahasweta Devi
Mahadevi Varma
Irshad Kamil
K Siva Reddy
None of these
Q. Who among the following has been named for Sir
Edmund Hillary Fellowship 2019?
P. V. Sindhu
Deepa Malik
Mary Kom
Aamir Khan
Kapil Dev
Q. Banks close FY19 with credit growth of ______.
11.28%
8.24%
19.87%
13.24%
11.23%
Q. Who among the following released booklet of
'Selected speeches of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar in the
Constituent Assembly'?
Surya Prakash
Rahul Jaiswal
Ranjan Ghosh
Sachin Tripathi
Anant Singh
Q. The headquarters of Prasar Bharati is at _______.
Chennai
Mumbai
New Delhi
Pune
Bangalore
Q. PM Modi has been conferred on the Order of St
Andrew the Apostle highest state decoration of
which of the following country?
China
Russia
Japan
France
Oman
Q. Which of the following bank has tied up with
CreditVidya for improving customer experience?
RBL Bank
HDFC Bank
ICICI Bank
Axis Bank
Yes Bank
Q. India has signed a pact to collaborate on solutions
for smart cities, clean tech with which of the
following country?
France
Sweden
Germany
Russia
Norway
Q. What is the capital of Sweden?
Oslo
Helsinki
Stockholm
Amsterdam
Prague
Q. The Department of Telecom has given approval
for the merger of Tata Teleservices (TTSL) with
_______.
Vodafone Idea Limited
BSNL
Bharti Airtel
Reliance Jio
None of these
Q. Who among the following is the CEO of Bharti
Airtel?
Sunil Duggal
Gopal Vittal
Kumar Mangalam Birla
Sunil Mittal
Dilip Shanghvi
Q. PAISALO Digital Limited signed the first co-
origination loan agreement with which of the
following bank?
Punjab National Bank
State Bank of India
Indian Bank
Allahabad Bank
Axis Bank
Q. Which of the following organisation launched
cloud platform Anthos?
Microsoft
Yahoo
Apple
Q. Who among the following is the current
chairperson of National Green Tribunal?
Lokeshwar Singh Panta
Adarsh Kumar Goel
Swatanter Kumar
Rahul Kumar Jha
Ajay Mishra
Q. The world Global Water Summit held in which of
the following city?
Paris
Moscow
London
Berlin
Vienna
Q. Which of the following won the ‘Public Water
Agency of the Year’ at the Global Water Summit?
National Mission for Clean Ganga
National Green Tribunal
Central Pollution Control Board
Clean Ganga Project
None of these
Q. In March 2019, Retail inflation stands at ______.
3.46%
2.86%
1.22%
2.65%
4.33%
Q. Virtual Reality Centre (VRC) for the Indian Navy
has been inaugurated at _________.
Pune
Kolkata
New Delhi
Chennai
Mumbai
Q. Tata Trusts join hands to support the handloom
weaving community with which of the following
organisation?
Microsoft
Yahoo
Apple
Q. Ambedkar Jayanti is celebrated every year on
________.
10 April
14 April
11 April
15 April
12 April
Q. Who among the following is known as Father of
The Indian Constitution?
Mahatma Gandhi
J.L. Nehru
B.R. Ambedkar
Mahatma Gandhi
None of These
Q. Who among the following is the CEO of Google?
Larry Page
Satya Nadella
Sundar Pichai
Indra Nooyi
Tim Cook
Q. Which of the following country will host the
world’s foremost Artificial Intelligence Summit?
USA
UAE
Japan
China
France
Q. The festival ‘Vishu’ is celebrated in which of the
following Indian State?
Jharkhand
Assam
West Bengal
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Q. Tiger Woods is associated with which of the
following sports?
Chess
Golf
Tennis
Cricket
Football
Q. The world's largest aeroplane designed by
Stratolaunch is equipped with _______ Boeing 747
engines?
3
4
5
6
7
Q. Who among the following has declared his victory
in the general election at Finland?
Timo Soini
Antti Rinne
Alexander Stubb
Sanna Marin
None of these
Q. Puthandu Pirappu is the new year celebrated in
which of the following India state?
Jammu and Kashmir
Nagaland
Tamil Nadu
Gujarat
Karnataka
Q. Who among the following became the first
woman vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia?
Shama Khatoon
Najma Akhtar
Zahida Khan
Shakshi Kumari
None of these
Q. Who among the following won the gold medal at
the Boxing World Cup at Cologne, Germany?
Meena Kumari
Sakshi
Pwilao Basumatary
Pinki Rani
Parveen
Q. Lewis Hamilton is associated with which of the
following Formula One racing team?
Ferrari
Renault
Red Bull
Mercedes
Racing Point
Q. Who among the following won 2019 Paris
Marathon (men’s race)?
Tiki Gelana
Abrha Milaw
Mare Dibaba
Tamirat Tola
Rosa Mota
Q. India successfully test 'Nirbhay’. It is a/an_____?
Battleship
Artillery Gun
Cruise Missile
Battle Tank
None of these
Q. Recently Pradeep Choubey passed away. He was
a/an_____.
Sitar Player
Poet
Politician
Journalist
Sports Person
Q. CMFRI joins hands with which of the following
organizations to protect coastal wetlands?
Defence Research and Development Organisation
Indian Space Research Organisation
Bharat Electronics Limited
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
None of these
Q. The headquarters of Central Marine Fisheries
Research Institute (CMFRI) is located at ______.
Chennai
Mumbai
Kochi
Diu
Kanyakumari
Q. Who among the following is the Minister of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change?
Rajnath Singh
Nitin Gadkari
Prakash Javadekar
Harsh Vardhan
Jitendra Singh
Q. Which of the following launched industry first
proposition to pay electricity bill on EMIs?
Capital First Ltd.
Bajaj Finserv Ltd.
Kotak Mahindra Bank
RBL Bank
HDFC Bank
Q. The headquarter of UNESCO is located at______
London
Paris
Moscow
Vienna
Berlin
Q. Who among the following won Singapore Open?
Kento Momota
Kenichi Tago
Chen Long
Shi Yuqi
None of These
Q. Who among the following won the Dutch
International title?
Rahul Jaiswal
Harsheel Dani
Ajay Anand
Sachin Ahuja
Manpreet Singh
Q. The indigenously developed ‘Nirbhay’ missile
can travel at a speed of ________ at altitudes as low
as _______.
0.2 Mach, 200 meter
0.5 Mach, 500 meter
0.7 Mach, 100 meter
1.2 Mach, 300 meter
0.4 Mach, 800 meter
Q. World Hemophilia Day is celebrated every year
on________.
12 April
16 April
19 April
17 April
15 April
Q. The headquarters of World Health Organization
is located in which of the following city?
London
Vienna
Paris
Geneva
New York
Q. Measles is a disease caused by ________.
Fungi
Virus
Bacteria
Protozoa
None of these
Q. Which of the following country has made world’s
1st armored amphibious drone boat?
Japan
Russia
USA
China
Australia
Q. Kaziranga National Park is located in which of
the following Indian State?
Jammu and Kashmir
Gujarat
Maharashtra
Assam
Kerala
Q. Indian naval ship ‘INS Magar’ have reached with
relief material to which of the following country?
Sudan
Nigeria
Mozambique
Algeria
Ghana
Q. What is the symbol of last tirthankara of Jainism,
Lord Mahavir?
Snake
Bull
Lotus
Lion
Sparrow
Q. AUSINDEX is a joint military exercise between
India and________.
Angola
Austria
Australia
Argentina
None of these
Q. Home Expo India 2019 begins at ________.
Pune
Greater Noida
Agra
Chennai
Gwalior
Q. The Pulitzer Prize is awarded in the field of
________?
Science and Technology
Arts
Journalism
Cinema
Sports
Q. World Heritage Day is observed every year
on________.
18 April
16 April
19 April
17 April
20 April
Q. What is the theme of 2019 ‘World Heritage Day’?
Our Villages
Rural Landscapes
Ecofriendly Villages
Tourism with environment
None of these
Q. Who among the following has been appointed as
appointed as Executive Director of Punjab National
Bank?
Vipin Pal
Rajesh Kumar
Anmol Khurana
Amit Trivedi
None of These
Q. Mujibnagar day is observed in which of the
following country?
Pakistan
China
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
Myanmar
Q. The Mujibnagar day is observed every year on
________.
19 April
18 April
17 April
16 April
15 April
Q. Indian coast guard ship ‘Veera’ has been
commissioned at ________.
Visakhapatnam
Kochi
Mumbai
Kolkata
Mangalore
Q. Google opened its first Africa Artificial
Intelligence lab in _______.
Angola
Ghana
Namibia
Kenya
Gabon
Q. Recently launched satellite ‘Raavana-1’ marks the
entry of which of the following country into space?
Bangladesh
Myanmar
Sri Lanka
Pakistan
Nepal
Q. Who among the following has been named as the
goodwill ambassador for Street Child Cricket World
Cup?
Virat Kohli
Mithali Raj
Kapil Dev
Jhulan Goswami
Rahul Dravid
Q. TikTok app has been removed from the play store
after the ban issued by which of the following high
court?
Delhi High Court
Punjab High Court
Madras High Court
Allahabad High Court
Bombay High Court
Q. According to a recent study by NASA, what was
the first molecule formed in space?
Hydrogen chloride ion
Helium hydride ion
Hydrogen oxide ion
Helium sulphate ion
None of these
Q. Which of the following city will host Asian
Billiards, Snooker Championships?
New Delhi
Agra
Hyderabad
Chandigarh
Pune
Q. What is India’s rank on World Press Freedom
Index?
121
136
140
156
161
Q. Which of the following bank partners with
M1Xchange for MSME bill discounting?
Punjab National Bank
Bank of Maharashtra
Canara Bank
Bank of India
State Bank of India
Q. Which of the following bank has to join hands
with Srei Equipment Finance Ltd to offer joint loans?
Bank of Baroda
Bank of Maharashtra
Axis Bank
Bank of India
Canara Bank
Q. Who among the following has been appointed as
India's next High Commissioner to South Africa?
Rahul Jaikar
Sachin Joshi
Jaideep Sarkar
Pankaj Ahlawat
Ankur Soni
Q. What is the capital of Mali?
Dakar
Lomé
Bamako
Mopti
Accra
Q. Who among the following is the first Indian
woman scientist to be elected Royal Society Fellow?
Sakshi Singh
Gangandeep Kang
Deepali Raj
Prabha Mahajan
Priya Anand
Q. Who among the following tops in world wrestling
rankings in the men's 65-kilogram freestyle category
rankings?
Sushil Kumar
Niurhun Skrabin
Bajrang Punia
Karam Shakir
David Habat
Q. Pankaj Advani is related to which of the following
sports?
Golf
Billiards
Chess
Shooting
Cricket
Q. Which of the following ship/ships went to China
to participate in the International Fleet Review?
INS Kolkata
INS Shakti
INS Kadmatt
Both A and B
All of these
Q. A book on Jallianwala Bagh poem named as
_______ released in UAE.
Khooni Bagh
Laal Vaisakhi
Khooni Vaisakhi
Laal Bagh
None of these
Q. Deutsche Bank has appointed ______ as chief
executive officer for India.
Dinesh Paliwal
Kaushik Shaparia
Sachin Tandon
Bharat Desai
Rahul Tyagi
Q. Deutsche Bank is headquartered in _______.
France
Poland
Canada
Germany
Norway
Q. 7th China International Technology Fair kicks
start in which of the following city?
Beijing
Shanghai
Shenzhen
Wuhan
Tokyo
Q. Which of the following country will host G20
summit in 2020?
India
UAE
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
China
Q. India rebuilds Chhyoiphel Kundeling monastery
in which of the following country?
Myanmar
China
Nepal
Bhutan
Mangolia
Q. Saudi Arabia increases India's Haj Quota to
_______.
1.8 Lakh
1.9 Lakh
2 Lakh
2.10 Lakh
2.25 lakh
Q. Tokyo-based Terra Drone inks pact with which of
the following institute?
IIT Delhi
IIT Kanpur
IIT Hyderabad
IIT Kharagpur
IIT Madras
Q. Which of the following country will cost G20
summit in June 2019?
China
Japan
France
Australia
Indonesia
Q. Mount Agung is located in which of the following
country?
Laos
Vietnam
Indonesia
Japan
Chile
Q. Indian Navy launched guided missile destroyer
‘Imphal’ from which of the following locations?
Diu
Chennai
Mumbai
Kolkata
Mangalore
Q. Civil Services Day is celebrated every year on
________.
12 April
20 April
18 April
21 April
24 April
Q. In which of the following year Bhopal gas tragedy
took place?
1992
1984
1961
1998
1978
Q. The headquarters of the International Labour
Organization is located at _______.
Geneva
London
Paris
New York
Vienna
Q. Naval Commanders’ conference 2019/1 will take
place in which of the following city?
Mumbai
Chennai
New Delhi
Pune
Banglore
Q. Asian Athletics Championships 2019 begins in
which of the following city?
Abu Dhabi
Dubai
Doha
Muscat
Hyderabad
Q. Which of the following country topped the
medallist in 2017 Asian Athletics Championships
held in India?
China
Bangladesh
India
Sri Lanka
Indonesia
Q. Recently, Amar Pal passed away, he was a famous
________.
Journalist
Cricketer
Folk singer
Sitar Player
Politician
Q. Previously, Mount Agung erupts in the year
_______.
1999
1963
1981
1919
1876
Q. Earth Day is is celebrated every year on
________.
18 April
20 April
22 April
23 April
19 April
Q. Comedian Zelensky wins the presidential election
of which of the following country?
Laos
Ukraine
Namibia
Finland
Argentina
Q. Which of the following team has won the 2019
Santosh Trophy?
Goa
Services
West Bengal
Punjab
Kerala
Q. Which of the following country has adopted the
National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031?
Canada
UAE
China
Australia
Japan
Q. Gahirmatha coast which is famous for Olive
Ridley turtles is located in which of the following
India state?
Tamil nadu
Kerala
Andhra Pradesh
Odisha
Gujarat
Q. In April 2019, SpiceJet has signed an MoU for
codeshare partnership with which of the following
airlines?
Philippine Airlines
Emirates
Qatar Airways
Lufthansa
Singapore Airlines
Q. Who among the following is the CEO of SpiceJet?
Rahul Sinha
Ajay Singh
Amitabh Kant
Sachin Joshi
Akashdeep Singh
Q. Who among the following has been appointed as
the Managing Director of Twitter India?
Rahul Jaiswal
Manish Maheshwari
Pawan Sinha
Mangal Singh
Mansi Singh
Q. Annu Rani who won a silver medal at Asian
Athletics Championship is related to which of the
following sports?
400-meter relay
Discus throw
Javelin throw
Long jump
None of these
Q. What is the capital of Ukraine?
Budapest
Bucharest
Kyiv
Riga
Minsk
Q. Hope Probe is project bound for Mars by which of
the following country?
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Canada
South Africa
Chile
Q. Who among the following will set a record for the
longest spaceflight by a woman?
Jessica Meir
Anne McClain
Anna Lee
Christina Koch
None of these
Q. In April 2019, Which of the following
organisation has signed an MoU with Ministry of
AYUSH for cooperation in research and education in
areas of traditional systems of medicine?
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre For Advanced Scientific
Research
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research
None of these
Q. Who among the following is the officeholder of
Ministry of AYUSH?
Pramod Sawant
Santosh Gangwar
Jitendra Singh
Shripad Naik
Dharmendra Pradhan
Q. Nasim Zaidi quits from the post of non-executive
and non-independent director of which of the
following organisation?
Jet Airways
Spice Jet
GoAir
Air India
None of These
Q. Which of the following insurance company
launches cyber defence insurance for businesses?
New India Assurance
SBI General Insurance
Royal Sundaram General Insurance
TATA AIG
Iffco Tokio
Q. In April 2019, For financing Earthmoving and
Construction Equipment, Bharat Earth Movers
Limited (BEML) has signed an MoU with which of
the following bank?
ICICI Bank
Punjab national Bank
Syndicate Bank
Canara Bank
HDFC Bank
Q. Which of the following film has won the best
cinematography award at Beijing International Film
Festival?
The Postman
Cuban Colony
Bhayanakam
Joseph
Varathan
Q. Asia Badminton Championships 2019 has begun
in which of the following country?
India
Sri Lanka
Myanmar
Afghanistan
China
Q. Indiabulls Housing Finance is merging with which
of the following bank?
Karur Vysya Bank
Lakshmi Vilas Bank
South Indian Bank
DCB Bank
Bandhan Bank
Q. Indonesia releases special stamp on the theme of
________.
Mahabarata
Ramayana
Bhagavad Gita
Yoga Sutras
Manusmriti
Q. Parveen Rana is related to which of the following
sports?
Cricketer
Football
Wrestling
Badminton
Table Tennis
Q. RBI approves the proposal of HDFC for holding
a ________ stake in Bandhan Bank
9.9%
12.6%
19%
21%
6%
Q. World Book Day 2019 is observed every year on
________.
20 April
24 April
23 April
21 April
22 April
Q. In April 2019, The government has increased
authorised capital of Allahabad Bank to _________.
Rs 6,000 crore
Rs 8,000 crore
Rs 10,000 crore
Rs 12,000 crore
Rs 20,000 crore
Q. The new venue for the final of 2019 IPL match is
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. It is located in
which of the following city?
Chennai
New Delhi
Banglore
Hyderabad
Mohali
Q. In January 2019, Which of the following bank has
acquired Gruh Finance?
Canara Bank
Bank of Baroda
Indian Bank
Bandhan Bank
Allahabad Bank
Q. Allahabad Bank is headquartered in which of the
following city?
Kolkata
Prayagraj
Pune
Banglore
Mumbai
Q. Who among the following has taken over as the
52nd Controller General of Defence Accounts?
Prabhat Arya
Rajendra Kumar Nayak
Nandan Singh Tripathi
Amit Oswal
Pradeep Singh
Q. M. A. Chidambaram Cricket Stadium is located in
which of the following city?
Pune
Banglore
Mumbai
Chennai
Visakhapatnam
Q. Which of the following country will name a new
town after U.S. President Donald Trump?
Iran
Israel
Ukraine
Iraq
Vietnam
Q. What is the number of member states is the
European Union (EU)?
15
18
28
31
19
Q. Which of the following became the first major
airline to operate plastic-free?
Emirates
Southwest Airlines
Qatar Airways
Gulf Air
Etihad Airways
Q. Kim Jong-un & Vladimir Putin hold first summit
talks in ________.
Seoul
Moscow
Vladivostok
St Petersburg
None of these
Q. India extends a ban on the import of milk products
from which of the following country?
Pakistan
Bangladesh
China
Sri Lanka
Bhutan
Q. Indian Coast Guard commissioned Vessel C-441
in which of the following Indian state?
Goa
Kerala
Gujarat
Andhra Pradesh
Odisha
Q. RBI divests its entire stake in NABARD and NHB
on the recommendation of _________.
Narasimham Committee
A C Shah Committee
Ghosh Committee
Abid Hussain Committee
None of these
Q. Who among the following topped the Fortune's
World Leaders List?
Jack Ma
Jeff Bezos
Bill Gates
Tim Cook
Donald Trump
Q. India ended at _________ spot in the 2019 Asian
Athletics Championship?
2
3
4
5
6
Q. Which of the following country has topped the
medals table at the 2019 Asian Athletics
championship?
India
China
Bahrain
Japan
Qatar
Q. What is the name of NASA's robotic Mars lander
that has likely recorded the first ‘marsquake’?
Mars 2020 Rover
Mariner 3
Curiosity
InSight
Phoenix
Q. What was the theme of the 2019 World Malaria
day?
Ready to beat malaria
Zero malaria starts with me
End Malaria for Good
Set by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership
None of these
Q. World Maralria day is celebrated every year on
_________.
23 April
24 April
25 April
26 April
27 April
Q. Which of the following committee has been
formed by RBI to review the Economic Capital
Framework for the RBI?
Narasimham Committee
Jalan Committee
A C Shah Committee
Ghosh Committee
Abid Hussain Committee
Q. In April 2019, Karnam Sekar has been appointed
as the MD & CEO of which of the following bank?
Canara Bank
UCO Bank
IDBI Bank
Indian Overseas Bank
Bandhan Bank
Q. Who among the following has been appointed as
the Indian envoy to Seychelles?
Dalbir Singh
Birender Singh Dhanoa
Arup Raha
Robin K. Dhowan
Bikram Sing
Q. What is the capital of Seychelles?
Lome
Victoria
Port Louis
Praslin
Dakar
Q. In April 2019, Who among the following won
Asian Snooker Tour title?
Aung Phyo
Pankaj Advani
Heydari Nezhad
Mark Allen
Mark Selby
Q. Divya Kakran is related to which of the following
sports?
Hockey
Boxing
Javelin Throw
Long Jump
Wrestling
Q. Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary won
_________ medal in the 10 metres Air Pistol Mixed
Team event at ISSF World Cup?
Gold
Silver
Bronze
No Medal
Silver and Bronze
Q. The Madhya Dakshini Festival 2019 is being
celebrated in which of the following Indian state?
Assam
Karnataka
Madhya Pradesh
Jharkhand
Tamil Nadu
Q. A major cyclone named as ________ likely to hit
Tamil Nadu on April 30 and May 1.
Kenneth
Idai
Fani
Hudhud
Vardha
Q. World Intellectual Property Day is observed every
year on _________.
24 April
25 April
26 April
27 April
28 April
Q. What was the theme of the 2019 World
Intellectual Property Day?
Know your rights
Reach for Gold: IP and Sports
A way to Intellectual Property
Contribution of Intellectual Property
None of these
Q. Which of the following country is the host for 5th
Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Media
Summit on Climate Action and Disaster
Preparedness?
India
China
Bangladesh
Nepal
Myanmar
Q. Divyansh, who recently secures India's fourth
Olympic quota, is related to which of the following
sports?
Long Jump
Shooting
High Jump
Archery
Judo
Q. Which of the following country is named as the
Guest of honour at the Abu Dhabi International Book
Fair 2019?
France
China
India
Bangladesh
Indonesia
Q. The Indian army has signed an MoU with which
of the following organisation for the construction of
tunnels on China, Pakistan borders?
BEML Limited
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
Larsen & Toubro
NHPC Limited
Tata Projects Limited
Q. With which of the following bank, Wirecard has
partnered to drive financial inclusion?
State Bank of India
RBL Bank
Axis Bank
HDFC Bank
Bandhan bank
Q. Who among the following is the current President
of Nepal?
Ram Baran Yadav
Win Myint
Sheikh Hasina
Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury
Bidhya Devi Bhandari
Q. With which of the following bank, Wirecard has
partnered to drive financial inclusion?
State Bank of India
RBL Bank
Axis Bank
HDFC Bank
Canara Bank
Q. International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF)
World Cup is being organised in which of the
following country?
Bangladesh
UAE
Canada
China
Russia
Q. Who among the following is not a cricketer
recommended by BCCI for Arjuna award 2019?
Mohammad Shami
Jasprit Bumrah
Rishabh Pant
Ravindra Jadeja
Poonam Yadav
Q. What is the colour of the new Rs 20 denomination
launched by RBI in the Mahatma Gandhi (New)
Series?
Lavender
Chocolate Brown
Greenish Yellow
Dark Green
Fluorescent Blue
Q. What is the motif on the new Rs 20 denomination
launched by RBI in the Mahatma Gandhi (New)
Series?
Taj Mahal
Ellora Caves
India Gate
Konark Sun Temple
Qutub Minar
Q. Recently Orange alert has been issued in Gujarat.
It is related to ________.
Terrorist attack
Scarcity of specific food item like pulses
Severe weather conditions like heatwaves
The spread of an endemic
None of these
Q. What is the number of Rajya Sabha seats in
Gujarat?
16
22
11
9
26
Q. Who among the following is the current Chairman
of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)?
Subhash Chandra Khuntia
Rajnish Kumar
Ashish Kumar Chauhan
Ajay Tyagi
Shaktikanta Das
Q. In April 2019, Sebi reduces minimum net worth
requirements for clearing corp in IFSC to ________.
Rs. 200 Crore
Rs. 500 Crore
Rs. 100 Crore
Rs. 700 Crore
Rs. 1,000 Crore
Q. Gurpreet Singh and Sunil Kumar are related to
which of the following sports?
Cricket
Football
Wrestling
Chess
Judo
Q. International Dance Day is observed every year on
________.
30 April
28 April
29 April
27 April
26 April
Q. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence
Ministers' meeting was held in which of the following
country?
Russia
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Uzbekistan
China
Q. India became a full-time member of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the year ________.
2008
2017
2018
2014
2010
Q. Which of the following country bans all types of face
coverings that prevent anyone from being identified?
Bangladesh
UAE
Sri Lanka
Pakistan
Indonesia
Q. Who among the following won Azerbaijan Grand
Prix?
Valtteri Bottas
Sebastian Vette
Lewis Hamilton
Max Verstappen
Nico Rosberg
Q. Which of the following country will hold ASEAN
maritime drills 2019?
Indonesia
South Korea
Singapore
Laos
Both 1 and 3
Q. Who among the following won ITTF-World table
tennis championships?
Ma Lin
Wang Liqin
Ma Long
Timo Boll
Fang Bo
Q. Who among the following will be the first Indian to
play county cricket for Hampshire?
Virat Kohli
Rishabh Pant
Shikhar Dhawan
Ajinkya Rahane
Hardik Pandya
Q. Who among the following will be the first Indian to
compete at Madison Square Garden wrestling event?
Sakshi Malik
Bajrang Punia
Vinesh Phogat
Yogeshwar Dutt
Sushil Kumar
Q. What is the current capital of Sri Lanka?
Colombo
Anuradhapura
Bentota
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
Mannar
Q. With which of the following PSU, Defence Ministry
has signed an contract to develop 8 anti-submarine
shallow watercraft?
MSTC Limited
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited
Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd
Goa Shipyard
Bharat Earth Movers
Q. Which of the following company has acquired Splash
Corporation, a Philippines-based personal care maker?
Johnson & Johnson
ITC Limited
Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting
Dabur
Britannia Industries
Q. Who among the following has been appointed as the
technical director of All India Football Federation?
John Jensen
Isac Doru
Roger Lemerre
Stuart Pearce
None of these
Q. Who among the following became the first female
umpire in men's ODI?
Doris Turner
Kathy Cross
Claire Polosak
Doris Turner
Jacqueline Williams
Q. Who among the following has been named as named
2019 FWA Men’s footballer of the year?
John Stones
Harry Kane
Raheem Sterling
David Silva
Kyle Walker
Q. Who among the following has been as named 2019
FWA Women’s footballer of the year?
Jill Scott
Nikita Parris
Demi Stokes
Georgia Stanway
Fara Williams
Q. Which of the following country has topped in the
International Shooting Sport Federation, ISSF World
Cup, Beijing?
China
France
India
Bangladesh
UAE
Q. Kento Momota won Badminton Asia Championships.
He is from which of the following country?
China
Indonesia
Japan
Russia
France
Q. Recently Pungam Kannan passed away. He was
associated with which of the following sports?
Cricket
Wrestling
Boxing
Long Jump
Football
Q. Who among the following is the chairman of Wipro?
Vishal Sikka
Lakshmi Mittal
Azim Premji
Gautam Adani
Dilip Shanghvi
