STATE
ANDHRA PRADESH
Pre-historic rock art site unearthed in Guntur
- A pre-historic rock art site discovered in the vast expanse of limestone blocks on the eastern banks of Naguleru near Dachepalli has thrown light on the Neolithic civilisation that flourished in Guntur during 1500-2000 BC.
- The rock art site on natural lime stone is the first of its kind in the country. The motifs in the form of engraving, pecking and brushing throw fascinating insights into the social and cultural practices of ancient civilizations.
Allagadda stone carvings get GI tag
- Allagadda, one of the important stone carving centres in Andhra Pradesh, has been issued Geographical Indication (GI) registration certificate by the GI Registry, Chennai.
- Allagadda is famous for sculptures. Mythological figures and the stone carvings of gods and goddesses in the temples in this region are typical illustrations of the stone work.
KERALA
Tribal Plus to attract tribalfamilies to the MGNREGS
- The State government is gearing up to launch an innovative programme titled ‘Tribal Plus’ to attract tribal families to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MGNREGS) in the State. The Tribal Plus project envisages to attract more tribal families to the scheme by providing more working days and ensuring wages by the end of every week.
NATIONAL
MSME Ministry Sets UP four Technology Centres for North East
- Ministry said that there is urgent need for setting up MSMEs in farming and non-farming sectors in the north East region and the Ministry will play the role of facilitator in order to provide R&D, market access and better designs for MSME products.The Micro industries will be given more support in this region. For this technology centres are being established in Imphal, Dimapur, Tinsukia and Agartala.
Joint Press Statement from the Summit between India and the Nordic Countries
- The summit was held in Stockholm, The Summit emphasised the Indian Government’s strong commitment to innovation and digital initiatives as key to prosperity and sustainable development, with national flagship programmes such as Make in India, Startup India, Digital India and Clean India.
- Nordic solutions in clean technologies, maritime solutions, port modernisation, food processing, health, life-sciences and agriculture were mentioned. The Summit welcomed the Nordic Sustainable Cities Project aimed at supporting the Smart Cities Program of the Government of India.
To note: The Nordic countries are Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, including their associated territories (Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Åland Islands).
World Heritage Day
- April 18 is International Day For Monuments and Sites, also called World Heritage Day. India alone has 36 world heritage sites, the sixth most of any country. Italy leads with 53 sites followed by China with 52 sites. World Heritage Day 2018 Theme is “Heritage for Generations”.
To know about the unesco heritage sites of India Click here
WORLD
Britain’s famed Queen Elizabeth 2 ship now a hotel in Dubai
- Britain’s famed Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship will finally open as a floating luxury hotel moored off Dubai nearly a decade after her last ocean voyage.
China stresses on ties with Nepal, India
- China on Wednesday proposed an understanding with India on Nepal, to help develop a trilateral partnership, which would include setting up a trans-Himalayan economic corridor.
SCIENCE
Researchers engineer plastic-eating enzyme
- Scientists in Britain and the United States say they have engineered a plastic-eating enzyme that could in future help in the fight against pollution.The enzyme, which is biodegradable, is able to digest polyethylene terephthalate, or PET — a form of plastic patented in the 1940s and now used in millions of tonnes of plastic bottles. PET plastics can persist for hundreds of years in the environment and currently pollute large areas of land and sea worldwide.
ECONOMY
DGCA :Domestic air traffic grows 28%
- Domestic aviation traffic in March saw the fastest growth in recent years at 28.03% with domestic airlines flying a total of 11.5 million passengers last month as compared with 9.04 million a year earlier, according to DGCA
ICRA:Wind energy capacity addition to increase to 3 GW in FY 2019
- The capacity addition in the wind power sector is expected to improve to about 3 gigawatts in FY 2019, after witnessing a weak performance in FY2018. Transition to bid-based power purchase agreement regime is cited as the reason for low capacity addition in FY2018.
SPORTS
Manchester City dominate PFA Team of the Year
- Manchester City dominated the Professional Footballers’ Association’s (PFA) Team of the Year by occupying five out of 11 spots.
Contribution of Army Sportspersons in 21st Commonwealth Games 2018
The following persons are Army Sportspersons.They participated in Common Wealth Games 2018 and got medals.
- Subedar Jitu Rai (SM) – Gold Medal (Shooting),
- Havildar Om Prakash Mitharval – Two Bronze Medals (Shooting),
- Subedar Satish Kumar – Silver Medal (Boxing),
- Naib Subedar Amit Kumar – Silver Medal (Boxing),
- Naib Subedar Mohd Hassumuddin – Bronze Medal (Boxing),
- Naib Subedar Manish Kaushik – Silver Medal (Boxing),
- Havildar Gaurav Solanki – Gold Medal (Boxing),
- Naib Subedar Neeraj Chopra – Gold Medal (Javelin) and
- Naib Subedar Deepak Lather – Bronze Medal (Weightlifting )