April 19, 2018 Visit of Prime Minister to UK (18-20 April 2018) At the invitation of Prime Minister Theresa May, the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi visited the United Kingdom (UK) as a Guest of Government on 18 April 2018. The two leaders held wide-ranging and constructive discussions and underlined our strategic partnership and growing convergence on regional and international issues. Prime Minister Modi will also participate in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London from 19-20 April 2018. Some of the areas were to promote coordinated global action to tackle plastic pollution including through the Commonwealth and India s role as host of World Environment Day 2018 and to provide practical support to help Commonwealth member-states boost cyber security capacity. President of India in Jammu and Kashmir; addresses the 6th convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, graced and addressed the sixth convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, April 18. Speaking on the occasion, the President referred to recent www.talentsprint.com 1
reports of the brutalisation and killing of a girl child in the state. Perhaps the most beautiful thing in the world, the President said, was the smile on the face of an innocent child. The greatest benchmark for society to judge its success would be to keep our children safe. Turning to the progress of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, the President was happy to note the success of its Technology Business Incubation Centre. The Centre can help incubate student-led startups. The President said that in today's world, universities and students need to emphasise research, innovation, technology and entrepreneurship. IIIDEM organizes 2-Day Consultative Workshop for the Delegation from the Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan The India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) organized a 2-day Consultative Workshop for the Delegation from the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Kazakhstan from April 16-17, 2018 at Nirvachan Sadan, Election Commission of India, New Delhi. The 6-member delegation comprised of the Vice-Chairman of CEC, Kazakhstan and other Senior Officials. The workshop aimed to hold interactive discussions on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) & Role of IT and Conduct of Training Programme. The Chief Election Commissioner of India Shri O. P. Rawat talked about the Indian EVM which is being used for the past 20 years in the Indian elections. Shri Rawat said that EVM is a unique voting machine and has multiple features which bring transparency in elections. Kazakhstan Capital: Astana Currency: Kazakhstani Tenge www.talentsprint.com 2
NSE's IISL launches Nifty 200 Quality 30 index Leading stock exchange NSE's arm IISL had launched Nifty 200 Quality 30 index, which will track the performance of select firms based on profitability and earnings growth variability. The new index includes top 30 companies from its parent Nifty 200 index, selected on the basis of their 'quality' scores, India Index Services & Products Limited (IISL) said in a statement. The quality score for each company will be determined based on return on equity, financial leverage (debt-equity ratio) and earnings growth variability analysed during the previous five years. NSE Chairman: Ashok Chawla MD & CEO: Vikram Limaye E-way bill for intra-state movement of goods: Six more states, next phase from April 20 The government will launch the next phase of e-way bill for intra-state movement of goods for six states -Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura and Uttarakhand - from April 20. Nine states have generated 82 percent of the total e-way bills so far. Gujarat was the major state in terms of intra-state e-way bill generation, followed by Karnataka and Maharashtra. Electronic way or e-way bill for inter-state movement of goods was launched on April 1, with Karnataka being the sole state to start intra-state e-way bill on www.talentsprint.com 3
the same day. E-way bill for intra-state movement started with 5 states - Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana - on April 15. India wins 6 elections to UN Economic and Social Council bodies, including influential NGO committee India has won six elections to United Nations Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc) bodies, five of them unanimously. In the polls held on April 16, India won places on the executive boards of four UN bodies, three commissions and a committee. India faced an election within the Asia-Pacific group only for the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Committee and it polled the highest number of votes, receiving 46 votes, followed by Pakistan with 43, while China received 39. After that Asia-Pacific vote, India was elected by acclamation in all the six elections by the entire Ecosoc, which comprises all the 193 members of the UN. The NGO committee is considered influential because it scrutinises the NGOs applying for consultative status with Ecosoc and can recommend or block them. India clubbed with Maldives, Sri Lanka in SAFF Cup Football Seven-time champions India have been drawn in Group B with Maldives and Sri Lanka during the official draw of the 2018 SAFF Cup Football tournament. In group A, the tournament hosts Bangladesh, will go head-to-head with Nepal, www.talentsprint.com 4
Pakistan, and Bhutan after an exciting ceremony at the Pan Pacific Hotel Sonargaon. The SAFF Suzuki Cup, the region's premier football tournament, will be played in Bangladesh from September 4 to 15 - marking the third time it has been staged in the country. India has faced Maldives three times in the SAFF Cup final defeating them in 1997 and 2009 - when the event was last played in Dhaka. In 2008, the Maldives got the better of their prestigious rivals for what remains as their sole success in the competition. India is also the defending champions following their success in 2015, when they overcame Afghanistan in the final. Olive Ridley turtles begin nesting for second time at Rushikulya In a rare occurrence, Olive Ridley turtles turned up for mass nesting for the second time at Rushikulya rookery on Odisha coast at wee hours of 18th April, while mass hatching of eggs of these endangered marine turtles is still continuing. Such a phenomenon occurred for the first time at this major mass nesting site of olive ridleys on Indian coast, said Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Ashis Behera. A group of over 5000 mother turtles came out from sea from 4.30am onwards to dig out nests in sand and lay eggs in them. They nested on the stretch between Gokharkuda and Podampeta villages. This second phase of mass nesting occurred when lakhs of newborn hatchlings were heading towards the sea. Capital- Bhubaneswar Chief Minister- Naveen Patnaik Odisha Governor- Satya Pal Malik (In-charge) www.talentsprint.com 5
Learn Two a Day: Salt Lake Stadium: Kolkata Salt Lake Stadium, officially known as Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), is a multipurpose stadium in Kolkata, with a current capacity of 85,000. It is the largest stadium in India by seating capacity. Veer Savarkar International Airport: Port Blair of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Veer Savarkar International Airport also known as Port Blair Airport (IATA: IXZ, ICAO: VOPB), is a customs airport located 2 km (1.2 mi) south of Port Blair and is the main airport of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. It is named after Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. It operates as a civil enclave, sharing airside facilities with INS Utkrosh of the Indian Navy. www.talentsprint.com 6