State
Tamilnadu:
Prime Minister will inaugurate DefExpo on April 12
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Defence Expo 2018 on April 12 to be held at Tiruvidandai near Mahabalipuram from April 11-14.Companies such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Saab, Airbus, Rafale, Rosonboron Exports, United Shipbuilding, BAE Systems, Sibat, Wartsila, Rhode and Schwarz will be present, a press release from the Defence Ministry said.The expo, for the first time, will project India’s defence manufacturing capabilities to the world, and showcase Brand India as an exporter of defence systems and components.
Andhra Pradesh
ConsenSys will launch blockchain training course in Vizag in June
- ConsenSys India, the Indian cohort of the global blockchain specialist firm ConsenSys, in collaboration with the State Government, will launch a unique end-to-end training programme in Visakhapatnam in June.
Kerala:
World Bank to review KSTP
- A Full Mission of the World Bank is arriving on April 12 to review the ongoing World Bank-aided Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) even as the Union Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) is yet to take a call on extending Phase II till April 2020.The mission, comprising specialists dealing with environment, social development, highway, bridge, road safety, procurement, etc.,
Telangana:
Vemuri V.S. Prasad sets Guinness World Records
- Vemuri V.S. Prasad is Hyderabadi who has developed a fascination for Guiness World Records in taekwondo. This Senior Intelligence Officer in the Directorate of GST Intelligence (DGGI, Hyderabad) has set two new world records this year, which were ratified recently. He holds the record for most full contact elbow strikes in one minute (176) and most full contact knee strikes in three minutes (180).
Maharashtra
Maharashtra extends insurance cover to crops damaged due to weather
- For the first time Maharashtra will extend insurance for damaged crops after factoring in fluctuations in the weather conditions. A 15-member committee has also been formed to set parameters for the scheme. The variables for considering a correlation would, among others, be wind speed, and drop and rise in temperature, which could affect all kinds of crops. The 15-member committee will put in place further guidelines and a scientific model for connecting the weather patterns to damages.
National News
India’s sex ratio reducing
- The average sex ratio in India declined from 906 female births per 1,000 male births in 2012-14 to 898 in 2014-16. The data, sourced from the Sample Registration System (SRS), was given in answer to a question raised in Parliament.Compared to the previous survey, only five States registered a positive change in sex ratio.
Investments in research infrastructure in premier educational institutions to be stepped up considerably through RISE
- The Government has announced to step up investments in general and research infrastructure in premier educational institutions, including health institutions, by launching a major initiative named ‘‘Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022’’ with a planned total investment of Rs. 1,00,000 crore in next four years. Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) would be suitably structured for funding this initiative.In addition to Government equity, HEFA would leverage funds from the market to service the requirements of the Centrally Funded Institutions (CFIs).
56 new airports will become functional in the next few years: Suresh Prabhu at Global Logistics Summit
- Efficient logistics is critical for countries like India to harness trade and facilitate greater & faster integration with both the domestic as well as world economy. Keeping this in mind 56 new airports will become functional in the next few years, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Shri Suresh Prabhu said at the two days Global Logistics Summit being held in New Delhi.
Prime Minister to inaugurate International Energy Forum in New Delhi
- India will host the 16thInternational Energy Forum (IEF) Ministerial Meeting from 10-12th April 2018 in New Delhi. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will formally inaugurate the Meeting on 11th April 2018.Petroleum Ministers from 42 countries would attend the Meeting.The biennial IEF Ministerial Meetings are the world’s largest gathering of Energy Ministers who engage in a dialogue on global energy issues. The IEF Ministerial meetings are informal dialogues, at both the political and technical levels, aimed to improve policy and investment decisions, and through increased knowledge and experience sharing.
Shri Piyush Goyal Launches UTTAM APP for Coal Quality Monitoring
- The Union Minister for Railways and Coal Shri Piyush Goyal today launched UTTAM App for Coal Quality Monitoring. UTTAM stands for – Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal (uttam.coalindia.in). The Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL) developed UTTAM,aims to provide an App for all citizens and coal consumers to monitor the process of Third Party Sampling of coal across CIL subsidiaries. UTTAM App ensures accountability, transparency, effectiveness and efficiency in coal ecosystem. It provides a platform for monitoring of sampling and coal dispatches. The App is designed with an aim to make the citizens a stakeholder in the coal ecosystem. UTTAM is an example of leveraging technology to facilitate a bidirectional channel between Coal India Limited and a common citizen. It ensures transparency and efficiency in the coal quality monitoring process and brings coal governance closer to people.
To know the details of this APP please click here
International
Earthquake in Phillipines:Richter level 6.2
- An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the quake, which hit at a depth of 61 km (38 miles), about 128 km (80 miles) east of the island’s key city of Davao.
Sierra Leone: opposition leader the new president
- Sierra Leone’s election commission declared main opposition candidate Julius Maada Bio as its new president on April 4, giving the opposition party its first presidency in 10 years.
Saudi Arabia’s first new cinema in decades : on April 18
- Saudi Arabia’s first cinema in more than 35 years will open on April 18 in the capital Riyadh. Holdings to open up to 40 theatres over the next five years.Movie theatres will not be segregated by gender like most other public places in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom, and the first screening will be Marvel’s superhero movie “Black Panther”, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Science and Technology
NASA to build quieter supersonic planes with Lockheed Martin
- NASA has inked a deal with Lockheed Martin to develop a supersonic “X-plane” that could break the sound barrier without a sonic boom. It is an ‘experimental plane’ designed to fly faster than the speed of sound without producing the noise typical of supersonic flights. The X-plane’s mission is to provide crucial data that could enable commercial supersonic passenger air travel over land
NASA’s Hubble:precisely measures distance to ancient star cluster
- Scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have for the first time precisely measured the distance to one of the oldest objects in the universe, a 13.4 billion-year-old cluster of stars born shortly after the Big Bang. The refined distance yardstick provides an independent estimate for the age of the universe. It will also help astronomers improve models of stellar evolution.
The center of the Milky Way is swarming with black holes
- The center of our galaxy is swarming with black holes, sort of like a Times Square for strange super gravity objects, astronomers discovered..Astronomers poring over old x-ray observations have found signs of a dozen black holes in the inner circle of the Milky Way. And since most black holes can’t even be spotted that way, they calculate that there are likely thousands of them there. They estimate it could be about 10,000, maybe more, according to a study in the journal Nature.
Business
Pension from earlier jobs taxable:CBDT
- The Central Board of Direct Taxes has clarified that the pension received by a taxpayer from his former employer is taxable under the head ‘Salaries.“The Finance Act 2018 has amended Section 16 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to provide that a taxpayer having income chargeable under the head ‘Salaries’ shall be allowed a deduction of ₹40,000 or the amount of salary, whichever is less, for computing his taxable income,” the government said in a statement. “Accordingly, any taxpayer who is in receipt of pension from his former employer shall be entitled to claim a deduction of ₹40,000 or the amount of pension, whichever is less, under Section 16 of the Act,”.
RBI bars banks from dealing with crypto currencies
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to stop providing service to any entity dealing with virtual currencies, with immediate effect.In view of the associated risks, it has been decided that, with immediate effect, entities regulated by RBI shall not deal with or provide services to any individual or business entities dealing with or settling crypto currencies.
New logistics index for states
- Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said that the government is working on creating a logistics index that would score States on their performance in the sector. He added that the sector was one of the key thrust areas for the government.“A logistics index is being developed for every State so that they can compete in this area,” Mr. Prabhu said at the Global Logistics Summit organised by industry body FICCI.
Sports
Commonwealth Games 2018: Duffy wins first gold
- Two-time world champion Flora Duffy of Bermuda lived up to her favoured status to win the sprint triathlon by 43 seconds,and collect the first gold medal of the 21st Commonwealth Games.
India’s first gold at commonwealth games
- Champion weightlifter MirabaiChanu, who won India’s first gold medal in the ongoing Commonwealth Games, hails from Manipur.