Weekly Current Affairs (Apr 16 to Apr 22)

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced a total ban on polythene bags in the state from May 1.
Himachal Pradesh is celebrating 70th "Himachal Day" function. The hill state came into existence after the merger of 30 odd princely states in 1948.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on the 2-Day visit to Gujarat. He launched various projects and schemes during his visit on the first day.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has said that for the first time in Indian Railways' history, Habibganj station in Bhopal has been handed over to a private firm to be operated by it.
Bihu Festival is celebrated in three times in a year with different farming phases. These are Bohag Bihu, Kongali Bihu, and Magh Bihu.
Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari is arriving in New Delhi on a five-day visit to India.
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Tuesday created the "third gender" status for hijras or transgenders. Earlier, they were forced to write male or female against their gender.
Maharashtra became the first state to launch a special awareness drive to ensure that transgenders in the state register as voters in greater numbers.
The Finance Ministry have permitted the Labour Ministry to go ahead with 8.65% rate of interest on Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) for 2016-17, which will benefit over four crores EPFO members.
The first ever joint military drill between Nepal and China -- Sagarmatha Friendship-2017 -- kicked off at Nepal Army's Para Training School in Maharajgunj in Kathmandu.
To prime public sector banks (PSBs) to hold their own against nifty private sector rivals and also prepare them for possible mergers in the future, the Bank Boards Bureau (BBB) has drawn up an elaborate Governance, Reward and Accountability Framework (GRAF).
Human Resource and Development Minister Prakash Javadekar launched the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) portal and mobile app in New Delhi.
The sixth prestigious M.S. Swaminathan Award for contribution in the field of agriculture was on Friday gave to R.R. Hanchinal, Chairperson of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Authority, a government of India.
Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan was honoured at the 60th San Francisco Intl. Film Festival at the Castro Theater.
Over 50 Indians, including gymnast Dipa Karmakar, Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik and actress Alia Bhatt, are among Forbes’ list of super achievers from Asia under the age of 30 who are “pushing boundaries of innovation“.
An Indian environmental engineer has won this year’s prestigious ‘Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards’ for providing women working on farms with water management solutions and protecting small farmers against droughts and flash floods.
An Indian-born aeronautics engineer from Australia has been honoured with the ‘World’s Outstanding Aerospace Engineer Leadership Award’ by the American Helicopter Society (AHS) International.
India’s gross domestic product is expected to spike to 7.2% in the 2017-18 financial year from 6.8% the previous fiscal, according to a new World Bank report titled “Globalization Backlash”.
Promising Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth clinched his maiden Super Series title at the Singapore Open after defeating compatriot K Srikanth in a historic all-Indian final.
National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand's daughter Gayatri Pullela has bagged both the singles and doubles crown at the Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix in Jakarta.
The sixth prestigious M.S. Swaminathan Award for contribution in the field of agriculture given to R.R. Hanchinal, Chairperson of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Authority, the government of India.
Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has developed a set of guidelines to protect consumers' interest while encouraging celebrities and advertisers to refrain from endorsing misleading advertisements.
Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh today launched two web applications to check corruption and keep track of government activities.
Special Envoys of five BRICS member states who specialises on West Asian Affairs held a quiet meeting in Vishakhapatnam to assess the current situation in the volatile region after use of chemical weapons in Syria and US retaliatory strike on the Syrian air base.
The depression over East-central Bay of Bengal has turned into the tropical cyclone 'Martha' prompting the Met office to advise distant warning signal No. 2 for maritime ports in Bangladesh.
The world's oldest person has died at age 117 in her home in northern Italy.
Sixteen-time world champion Pankaj Advani has won his sixth Asian Billiards title and seventh overall Asian championship.
Robert W Taylor, who was instrumental in creating the internet and the modern personal computer, has died at the age of 85.
Google has launched a new food delivery and home services aggregator called Area for the Indian market. The app is available as a free download on the Google Play store and is currently operational in Bengaluru and Mumbai.
Sai Praneeth has won the title match of Men's singles at Singapore Open Badminton beating his compatriot Kidambi Srikanth.
Naval ship ‘INS Chennai’ was formally dedicated to the city today in the presence of Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, Vice-Admiral HCS Bisht.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu launched India's First Train With Glass Ceiling, LED Lights And Rotatable Seats in 'Vistadome' Coaches.
SBI, PNB, Canara Bank, Union Bank, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India said to be leading merger, as per a government proposal.
Supreme Court on Monday ordered auction of its prime Aamby Valley township near Lonavala in Pune for failing to deposit Rs 5,000 crore of the Rs 14,000-crore due towards refund to investors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated phase-I of the Link-II pipeline canal of the ambitious Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) Yojana in Botad district of Gujarat.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has won Time magazine's readers' poll of the 100 most influential people in the world.
President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Kempegowda Festival in New Delhi.
UAE-based billionaire B R Shetty will invest Rs 1,000 crore ($150 million) to produce a two-part film 'Mahabharata'.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has successfully commissioned two units of 270 MW at RattanIndia Nasik Power Ltd's, Maharashtra.
The Supreme Court on Monday said BCCI'S acting Secretary Amitabh Chaudhry will attend the ICC meeting on April 24, accompanied by the apex cricketing body's CEO Rahul Johri.
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) won the Bahrain Grand Prix 2017 by defeating Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to help develop low-cost lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
State Bank of India (SBI) surpassed oil exploration major Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to become most valued public sector undertaking (PSU) stock in terms of market capitalization (m-cap) in intra-day trade. SBI with m-cap of Rs 239,808 crore was ahead of ONGC having m-cap of Rs 236,003 crore, BSE data showed.
Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) a defence public sector has received the Hindustan PSU Award under the category ‘Fastest Growing Organisation – Miniratna’.
The UP government changed the name of Gorakhpur and Agra Airports as well as the name of the department of welfare of the differently abled.
On the occasion of its Foundation Day, Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched three new products for its customers.
In a watershed moment for Indian sport, as well as a triumph in overcoming the odds, Bangalore-based Sagar Baheti has become the first visually impaired Indian runner to complete the historic Boston Marathon, the world's oldest, most competitive and the hardest marathon to qualify for.
TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors has launched India’s first industrial articulated robot and it goes by the name “BRABO”.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami dedicated the Indian Navy’s indigenously designed ‘P15A Guided Missile Destroyer’, INS Chennai to the city Chennai.
The Reserve Bank of India has set up two new Offices of the Banking Ombudsman for the State of Jammu and Kashmir (in Jammu) and Chhattisgarh (in Raipur).
The prestigious Shambhavi Puraskar, 2017 was presented to Hari Sankar Route for his outstanding contribution towards social change.
The Reserve Bank of India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan.
Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB), Mysuru and former Head, Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Mysore, has bagged the prestigious P. Gururaja Bhat Award instituted by Udupi-based Dr Paduru Gururaja Bhat Memorial Trust.
SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) launched its revamped website having several user-friendly features and compatible with all desktop and mobile devices.
Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar today launched the unique portal and mobile app of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a body under the aegis of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
The ICICI Bank Data Centre in Hyderabad has achieved the distinction of becoming the country's first Platinum rated project under IGBC (Indian Green Building Council) Green Data Centre Rating System.
Australia will abolish a popular work visa used by over 95,000 foreign workers, a majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment in the country and replace it with a new programme requiring higher English-language proficiency and job skills.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has appointed Vinay Shah as the new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Director of its mortgage loan arm and listed entity LIC Housing Finance.
Amid demands for farm loan waiver in the state, the government has announced ‘Advanced Farming – Enriched Farmer’ scheme, with an aim to increase farmers’ income by cutting production cost and increasing the output. The scheme will be launched in the upcoming Kharif season.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and former Andhra Pradesh minister Devineni Rajashekhar had died due to cardiac arrest in Hyderabad.
Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to ban the use of red beacons on all VIP vehicles, including those of the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister, from May 1.
Aiming to provide a delightful travelling experience to the picturesque Araku valley in Visakhapatnam, the Railways introduced a see-through Vistadome coach on its Visakhapatnam-Kirandul passenger train.
Uttar Pradesh cabinet, that was held on Tuesday, the Yogi government changed the name of Gorakhpur and Agra Airports as well as the name of the department of welfare of the differently abled.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cleared the Election Commission’s proposal to buy new Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines.
India has jumped one spot to rank 8th in 2017 AT Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index with 31 percent of the surveyed respondents being more optimistic on economic outlook over the next three years.
A Hindu youth from Pakistan has been selected for the prestigious Emerging Young Leaders Award given by the US State Department for the positive role played by youngsters in building sustainable peace.
Devendra Kumar Sharma, managing director of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited, will be the new chairman of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).
China to host BRICS film festival in June 2017.
B.N.Mohapatra has been appointed as the new Financial Commissioner (FC) (Railways) and ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India
Aniruddhan Vasudevan's "One Part Woman", a translation of Perumal Murugan's controversial Tamil novel "Maadhorubaagan"
BEML, a defence public sector, has received the Hindustan PSU Award under the category ‘Fastest Growing Organisation – Miniratna’BEML has been bestowed with Hindustan PSU Award under the category 'Fastest Growing Organisation - Miniratna'. The award is instituted by Hindustan Media Ventures.
IMF: World economy to grow at 3.5 percent in 2017.
Veteran actress Saira Banu was today named for the prestigious Raj Kapoor Lifetime achievement award of the Maharashtra Government.
The ICICI Bank Data Centre in Hyderabad has achieved the distinction of becoming the country's first Platinum rated project under IGBC Green Data Centre Rating System.
Chris Gayle, the brutal and entertaining Jamaican hard-hitter, is now in an elite club of his own – one for those with 10,000 T20 runs.
First Made in India industrial robot- BRABO.
Civil Services Day is celebrated on 21st April every year since 2006.
The health ministry of India has taken a slew of measures against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) like setting up a National Surveillance System.
China has for the first time announced "standardised" official names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh.
PV Sindhu has jumped two places to stand at World No 3 in the latest BWF Rankings.
Video gaming will be featured as a full sport at the 2022 Asian Games, with competitors in electronic sports set to receive medals for their digital prowess.
Italian mayor Giuseppina (Giusi) Nicolini wins UNESCO Peace Prize.
Actor Aamir Khan and cricket icon Kapil Dev will receive the 75th Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Awards.
Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd (GNFC) won the prestigious Golden Peacock Award in the category of Innovative Product/Service for pioneering a cashless township transformation model.
Mongolia launched its first satellite Mongol Sat-I.
Life insurance Corp of India has appointed Vinay Shah as the new managing director and chief executive director of its mortgage loan arm and listed entity LIC Housing Finance after government elevates Sunita Sharma to managing director of LIC earlier this week. Shah was executive director.
Tata Power inks pact for electricity distribution in Ajmer.
A temperate, rocky 'super-Earth' planet has been discovered transiting in front of a small star located about 39 light years away from Earth.
Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22.
The Supreme Court has set a limit on how much alimony a man is to pay his estranged wife, and it should be 25 percent of his net salary
Aiming at extension of legal aid to marginalised, poor and vulnerable communities, the law ministry launched three initiatives—pro bono legal services, a tale law service and ‘Nyaya Mitra’ scheme
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate UN Vesak Day in Colombo on May 12.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been featured in Time's magazine's 100 most influential people list.
1st India Indonesia Energy Forum held in Jakarta.
Malaysia Airlines — which lost a jetliner with 239 people on board in 2014 in one of the aviation’s greatest mysteries — has become the first carrier to adopt a satellite flight-tracking system.
Palmer, a small village in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district grabbed an award from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for going 100 per cent “cashless”.
The ‘NSCI Safety Awards’ for the year 2016 were presented by the Minister of State (Independent Charge), Labour & Employment Shri Bandaru Dattatreya.
GIC Re-first insurance company to set up base in GIFT City.
Payments technology company and soon-to-be-launched payments bank Fino Paytech to facilitate NABARD to help the rural bank digitisation drive in the states of Haryana, MP, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
RBI signs MoU with the bank of Guyana.
IndoStar Capital announced that Sriram Group chief R Sridhar has joined as Executive Vice Chairman and CEO as the Everstone Group-backed NBFC sees strong growth and aims to grow its retail lending business.
Senior journalist and columnist, Nora Chopra passed away on Thursday following a period of illness. She was actively engaged in her work till her premature demise. Chopra was widely respected for being a passionate, spirited and combative journalist.
India and South Korea sign MoU for Defence Industry.