| The Supreme Court counsel who has become the first woman lawyer to be directly elevated as a Supreme Court judge | Indu Malhotra |
| The company which has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ministry of Tourism to adopt Red Fort and Gandikota Fort for a period of 5 years at a cost of Rs. 25 crores | Dalmia Bharat |
| Gujarati poet and playwright who has been chosen to be conferred the 2017 Saraswati Samman by KK Birla Foundation | Sitanshu Yashaschandra |
| The rank of India in the World Press Freedom Index 2018 which has Norway, Sweden and Netherlands at the top 3 positions | 138 |
| The two-day coastal security exercise conducted by the Indian Navy off the coast of Kerala, Mahe and Lakshadweep and Minicoy Islands to enhance and assess the threat from the sea was named | Sagar Kavach |
| The Egyptian press photographer who has been chosen for the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize 2018 | Mahmoud Abu Zeid |
| The north-eastern State from where the Central Govt has withdrawn the AFSPA after 27 years | Meghalaya |
| The place in Madhya Pradesh from where the Indian PM Shri Narendra Modi has launched Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan | Ram Nagar in Mandla |
| The Indian company which has become the first to achieve 100 billion dollar market capitalisation | TCS |
| The space telescope launched by NASA to search for exoplanets on April 18, 2018 atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral is named | Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) |
| The country which has opened its first cinema after a gap of 35 years on April 18 | Saudi Arabia |
| The satellite launched by NASA on April 16 from Kwajalein Atoll in Marshall Islands to study the interstellar medium is named | CHESS 4 (Colorado High-resolution Echelle Stellar Spectrograph) |
| The team which has won the inaugural edition of India Super Cup 2018 football tournament defeating East Bengal in the finals at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar | Bengaluru FC |
| The sporting event which has been excluded from the Commonwealth Games of 2022 to be held in Birmingham | Shooting |
| The project launched by Dept of Posts for total digitisation of postal operations in the country is named | DARPAN (Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for a New India) |
| The place in Chhattisgarh from where the PM Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated a Health and Wellness Centre, to mark the launch of the Union Government’s Health Assurance Programme – Ayushman Bharat | Bijapur |
| The veteran Bollywood actor (passed away on 27 Apr 17) who has been conferred the 49th Dadasaheb Phalke Award posthumously | Vinod Khanna |
| The Indian badminton player who has been ranked at No. 1 position by the World Badminton Federation (becoming the second Indian after Saina Nehwal to achieve the feat) | Kidambi Srikanth |
| The 13-member task force set up by the Govt to prepare a road map for the implementation of unmanned aerial vehicle technology is headed by | Shri Jayant Sinha |
| The rank of India in the 2018 Index of Economic Freedom released by US based Heritage Foundation (the list is topped by Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand) | 130 |
| The board member of Wipro Ltd who has been appointed the Chairman of NASSCOM for the year 2018-19 | Rishad Premji |
| The venue of 4-day biennial exhibition of weapons and military hardware DefExpo India-2018 held from 11 to 14 April 18 | Kancheepuram (Tamil Nadu) |
| The project launched by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to spread awareness about availing Vitamin D through natural sunlight (the project urges schools to shift their morning assembly to noon time, mainly between 11 am and 1 pm) | Project Dhoop |
| The biggest ever country wide war exercise being conducted by the Indian Air Force from 08 to 22 April 2018 is named | Gagan Shakti |
| The Indian State which has decided to provide free chemotherapy to cancer patients from June 2018 in 10 districts in the first phase | Maharashtra |
| The Indian tennis player who has become the most successful doubles player in the history of Davis Cup (he recorded his 43rd win with Rohan Bopanna against China) | Leander Paes |
| The mobile app launched by the Minister of Coal Shri Piyush Goyal for coal quality monitoring is named | UTTAM (Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal) |
| The joint anti-piracy exercise conducted by the Coast Guards of India and South Korea off Chennai coast is named | SAHYOG-HYEOBLYEOG 2018 |
| The social media based remittance service launched by ICICI Bank for NRIs to transfer money using social media platforms is named | Social Pay |
| The name given to the most distant star discovered by NASA at a distance of nine billion light years | Icarus |
| The two endangered languages spoken in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha discovered by University of Hyderabad linguist Panchanan Mohanty | Walmiki and Malhar |
| The theme of National Maritime Day being observed on 05 April 2018 | Indian Shipping - An Ocean of Opportunity |
| The committee formed by Govt of India (HRD Ministry) to examine the process by which the CBSE conducts examinations is headed by | V S Oberoi |
| The former Managing Director of Intel South Asia who has been appointed the new President of NASSCOM (the first woman President of NASSCOM) | Ms Debjani Ghosh |
| The scheme introduced by West Bengal for providing marriage assistance to girls from economically weaker families is named | Rupashree |
| The out of control space station of China which burnt up on re-entry into earth's atmosphere and crashed into the Pacific Ocean was named | Tiangong-1 |
| The city which has become the first in the country to start selling BS-VI fuel (at present the cleanest fuel in the world) | Delhi |
| The team which has won the 2017-18 Santosh Trophy defeating Bengal in the finals at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata | Kerala |
| The place in Tamil Nadu where India's first insect museum was inaugurated by its Chief Minister EK Palaniswami | Coimbatore (TNAU) |
| # | Name of the Award | Name of the Film | Awardees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Best Feature Film | Village Rockstars (Assamese) | Producer and Director: Rima Das |
| 2. | Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director | Sinjar (Jasari) | Producer: Shibu G Suseelan Director: Pampally |
| 3. | Best Popular Film | Baahubali - The Conclusion (Telugu) | Producer: Prasad Devineni Director: SS Rajamouli |
| 4. | Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration | Dhappa (Marathi) | Producer: Sumatilal Popatlal Director: Nipun Dharmadhikari |
| 5. | Best Film on Social Issues | Aalorukkam (Malayalam) | Producer: Jolly Lonappan Director: VC Abhilash |
| 6. | Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation | Irada (Hindi) | Director: Aparnaa Singh Producer: Irada Entertainment |
| 7. | Best Children's Film | Mhorkya (Marathi) | Producer: Kalyan Rajmogli Padal Director: Amar Bharat Deokar |
| 8. | Best Hindi Film | Newton | Producer: Manish Mundra Director: Amit V Masurkar |
| 9. | Best Direction | Bhayanakam (Malayalam) | Director: Jayaraj |
| 10. | Best Actor | Nagarkirtan (Bengali) | Riddhi Sen |
| 11. | Best Actress | Mom (Hindi) | Sridevi |
| 12. | Best Supporting Actor | Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (Malayalam) | Fahad Fazil |
| 13. | Best Supporting Actress | Irada (Hindi) | Divya Dutta |
| 14. | Best Child Artist | Village Rockstars (Assamese) | Bhanita Das |
| 15. | Best Male Playback Singer | Film : Viswasapoorvam Mansoor (Malayalam); Song: Poy Maranja Kalam | KJ Yesudas |
| 16. | Best Female Playback Singer | Film: Kaatru Veliyidai (Tamil); Song: Vaan | Shashaa Tirupati |
| 17. | Best Book on Cinema | Matmagi Manipur - The first Manipuri feature film | Author: Bobby Wahengbam |
| 18. | Most Film Friendly State | Madhya Pradesh | - |
This is only a selective list of awards. For complete awards please visit Govt of India website
Launched on: 12 April 2018
Launched from: Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota
Launch vehicle: PSLV-C41
Weighing 1425 kg, IRNSS-1I is the latest member of the ‘Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC)’ system. NavIC, also known as Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland.
Indian PM Shri Narendra Modi flagged off India's most powerful electric locomotive from Madhepura loco factory in Bihar.
Theme: Empowering Women and Girls with Autism
Designated by: UN General Assembly
First Observed in: 2008
Designated by: United Nations General Assembly
Theme: Advancing Protection, Peace and Development
First Observed in: 2006
Designated by: United Nations General Assembly
First Observed in: 2014
Designated by: World Health Organisation
Theme: Universal Health Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere
First Observed in: 1950
Designated by: UN General Assembly
First Observed in: 2011
Designated by: World Federation of Haemophilia
Theme: Sharing Knowledge Makes us Stronger
First Observed in: 1989
Designated by: UNESCO
Theme: Cultural Heritage for Generations
First Observed in: 1983
Designated by: UN General Assembly
First Observed in: 2010
Note: Earth Day was first observed in 1970 in the United States and it went global in 1990. The same day was adopted by the UN in 2009 as the International Mother Earth Day.
Designated by: UN Dept of Public Information
First Observed in: 2010
Significance: Birthday of William Shakespeare
Designated by: World Health Organisation
First Observed in: 2007
Theme: Malaria Prevention: Ready to beat malaria
Designated by: World Intellectual Property Organisation
First Observed in: 2000
Theme: Powering change: Women in innovation and creativity
Designated by: International Labour Organisation
First Observed in: 2003
Theme: Occupational safety health - Vulnerability of young workers
Raj Kapoor Lifetime Achievement Award: Dharmendra
Raj Kapoor Special Contribution Award: Raj Kumar Hirani
V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award: Vijay Chauhan
V Shantaram Special Contribution Award: Mrinal Kulkarni
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to the Protection of Human Rights (Amendments) Bill, 2018 for better protection and promotion of human rights in the country.
Salient Features:
The amendment to the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 will make National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) more compliant with the Paris Principle concerning its autonomy, independence, pluralism and wide-ranging functions in order to effectively protect and promote human rights.
Venue: Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
From 04 April to 15 April 2018
Motto: Share the Dream
Mascot :Borobi (Blue Koala)
Medals Tally
| # | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 80 | 59 | 59 | 198 |
| 2 | England | 45 | 45 | 46 | 136 |
| 3 | India | 26 | 20 | 20 | 66 |
| 4 | Canada | 15 | 40 | 27 | 82 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 15 | 16 | 15 | 46 |
Venue of next Commonwealth Games: Birmingham (U.K.)
India's medals by sport
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shooting | 7 | 4 | 5 | 16 |
| Wrestling | 5 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| Weightlifting | 5 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Boxing | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| Table Tennis | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Badminton | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Athletics | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Squash | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Powerlifting | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 26 | 20 | 20 | 66 |
Flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony: PV Sindhu
Flag bearer at the Closing Ceremony: Mary Kom
Union HRD Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar released ‘NIRF India Rankings 2018’ for Higher Education Institutions
In this third edition of India Rankings, a total of 2809 institutions participated in 9 categories. Collectively they have submitted 3954 distinct profiles, some in multiple disciplines/categories. This includes 301 Universities, 906 Engineering Institutions, 487 Management Institutions, 286 Pharmacy Institutions, 71 Law Institutions, 101 Medical Institutions, 59 Architecture Institutions and 1087 General Degree Colleges.
List of top ranking institute in each category is as follows:
UTTAM: Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal
Less - Andrew Sean Greer (Pulitzer Prize 2018 for fiction)
Cost of Living - Martyna Majok (Pulitzer Prize 2018 for Drama)
1. Which is the largest producer of mobile phones in the world?
2. In which country is the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant located?
3. To which country does Masajo Nonaka, the world's oldest living person belong?
4. Former Prime Minster of which of the following countries has been disqualified by its Supreme Court from holding any public office for life?
5. S Nihal Singh who passed away recently was a well-known -
6. Which of these banks recently became the second most valued bank at the Bombay Stock Exchange?
7. How many countries were granted T20 International status by the International Cricket Council?
8. What kind of animal was Inuka which died recently at Singapore zoo?
9. Who is the longest serving Chief Minister of an Indian state till date?