April 24th, 2018

 1. National Panchayati Raj Day: 24 April
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  • National Panchayati Raj Day is the national day of India celebrated by Ministry of Panchayati Raj on 24 April annually.
  • Then Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh inaugurated the first National Panchayati Raj Day in 2010.

2. PM Modi launches Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan at Mandla, Madhya Pradesh.
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  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan at Ram Nagar in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day.
  • The scheme focuses on training, building infrastructure and stepping up initiatives for e-governance under the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project.
  • Mr. Modi also unveiled a plaque to mark the laying of foundation stone of an LPG bottling plant of Indian Oil Corporation at Maneri.
  • He also inaugurated Aadi Mahotsava, a three-day program on the conservation of ancient Tribal culture and heritage.
  • Static Part: Madhya Pradesh:- Chief minister- Shivraj Singh Chouhan|Governor- Anandiben Patel.

3. India wins 8th South Asian Judo Championship in Nepal.
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  • India topped the medal tally winning 10 Gold and 3 Bronze medals in the individual category. Host Nepal remained second and Pakistan got third place.
  • Indian women grabbed all 7 gold medals in the individual category while men bagged 3 gold and 3 bronze medals.
  • On the concluding day of the championship, Indian women and men won team events in Lalitpur, Nepal.
  • Keeping the unbeaten streak, Indian women whitewashed the championship by beating host Nepal by 5-0 in the final of team events.
  • Indian men also won the team championship. They defeated Pakistan by 3-2 in the final.
  • A total 102 players from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated in the 3-day championship.

4. Uttarakhand to get 1,700 crore rupees aid from ADB for Infrastructure development.
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  • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed in principle to give an aid of 1,700 crore rupees to Uttarakhand for infrastructure development and creation of sewerage treatment facilities in urban areas.
  • This was conveyed to Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat by the country director of ADB’s India Regiment Mission Kenichi Yokoyama at a meeting in Dehradun.
  • Chief Minister said infrastructure development in the urban areas was one of his government’s top priorities and 100 percent of the aid given by the institution will be utilized for the purpose.
  • Static Part: Asian Development Bank (ADB):- Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Philippines|President: Takehiko Nakao.

5. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj reaches Mongolia.
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  • Concluding her visit to China, EAM Sushma Swaraj reached Mongolia on a two-day tour.
  • She was received by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Mongolia B Battsetseg. This is the first visit of an Indian External Affairs Minister to Mongolia in 42 years.
  • During her China visit, Mrs. Swaraj attended the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers Meeting in Beijing. In her address, she said, the fight against terrorism should not only seek to eliminate terrorists, but also take strong measures against States that support, finance and provide sanctuary to terror groups.
  • Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is also in Beijing to attend the SCO Defence Ministers meet. The SCO, headquartered in Beijing, was founded in 2001.
  • Static Part: China:- Capital- Beijing|Currency- Renminbi|President- Xi Jinping.

6. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami presents cash prizes to state Commonwealth Games medal winners.
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  • CM K Palaniswami presented cash prizes to sportspersons from the state who won medals in the recent Commonwealth Games in Australia.
  • He presented one crore rupees each to table-tennis players A Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan. Both won gold in the men’s team event and silver in the doubles.
  • Besides, Kamal also bagged the bronze in the singles section.
  • Another table-tennis player A Amalraj, who won team event gold, received a cheque for 50 lakh rupees.
  • Weightlifter Sathishkumar Sivalingam, who had won gold, was presented with a cheque of 50 lakh rupees.
  • Women Squash player Deepika Pallikal who won a silver received a cheque for 60 lakh rupees.
  • Another Squash player, Saurabh Ghoshal, who won a silver, was presented with a cheque of 30 lakh rupees.
  • The state government also rewarded the coaches of the players with a total of 54 lakh rupees.
  • Static Part: National parks in TN:- Mudumalai National Park|Mukurthi National Park|Indira Gandhi National Park /Annamalai National Park|Guindy National Park|Gulf Of Mannar Marine National Park.

7. Shahzar Rizvi’s silver opens India’s account at ISSF World Cup.
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  • World record holder Shahzar Rizvi claimed India’s first medal at the ongoing World Cup organized by the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) at Changwon, South Korea.
  • He won the silver in the 10-meter air pistol event on day three of the year’s second World Cup. Rizvi missed the gold by 0.2 points to Russia’s Artem Chernousov. Samuel Donkov of Bulgaria won the Bronze.
  • The Duo Jitu Rai and Om Prakash Mitharwal failed to qualify for the final.

8. Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu to Chair First Meeting of Think Tank on Framework for National Policy on E-Commerce on April 24th, 2018.
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  • Senior officers of the ministries/ departments of the Government of India involved in different aspects of e-commerce, high-level representatives from the industry bodies, e-commerce companies, telecommunication companies and IT companies, Reserve Bank of India, and independent experts have been invited to participate in the meeting.
  • The think tank on the Framework for National Policy on E-commerce has been established recently by the Department of Commerce.
  • It will provide a credible forum for an inclusive and fact-based dialogue leading to recommendations for informed policy making, so that the country is adequately prepared to take advantage of the opportunities, and meet the challenges, that would arise from the next wave of advancements in the digital economy.

9. AFSPA removed from Meghalaya after 27 years.
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  • The Centre has withdrawn the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) totally from Meghalaya as well as from 8 police stations in Arunachal Pradesh.
  • AFSPA gives special powers and immunity to the armed forces deployed in areas declared “disturbed” under the Act.
  • The Act had been in force in Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh for almost 27 years.

10. Diu Smart City becomes first to run on 100% Renewable Energy during Daytime.
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  • Diu Smart City has become the first city in India, that runs on 100% renewable energy during daytime setting a new benchmark for other cities to become clean and green.
  • Diu had been importing 73% of its power from Gujarat until last year.
  • It has now adopted a two-pronged approach whereby a 9 MW solar park spread over 50 hectares rocky barren land has been developed besides installing solar panels on the rooftops on 79 government buildings thereby generating 1.3 MW annually.
  • To further enhance its solar capacity, Diu offers its residents a subsidy of Rs 10,000 to 50,000 for installing 1-5KW rooftop solar panels.
  • Diu is saving about 13,000 tonnes of carbon emissions every year. Due to low-cost solar energy, power tariffs have been cut in a residential category by 10% last year and 15% this year.
  • Static Part: Daman and Diu:- Capital- Daman|Administrator- Praful Patel.

11. India and World Bank Signs Agreement to Improve Rural Road Network in MP.
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  • India and the World Bank signed a $210 million loan agreement for the Madhya Pradesh Rural Connectivity Project. The Project is expected to improve the durability, resilience, and safety of the gravel surfaced rural roads and enhance the capacity of the state to manage its rural roads network.
  • The Project will cover 10,510 km stretch of rural roads in Madhya Pradesh that fall under the Chief Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (CMGSY) program
  • Static Part: Madhya Pradesh:- CM- Shivraj Singh Chouhan|Governor- Anandiben Patel.

12. Iran Bans Banks From Using Cryptocurrencies.
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  • Iran has banned the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by its banks and financial institutions. The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the central bank of Iran.
  • As per the central bank of Iran, the ban was necessary since all cryptocurrencies have the capacity to be turned into a means for money-laundering and financing terrorism and in general can be turned into a means for transferring criminals’ money.
  • Static Part: Iran:- Capital- Tehran|Currency- Iranian rial|President- Hassan Rouhani.