Latest Current Affairs For Monday 18th April, 2022

20th India-France Joint Staff talks in Paris

The 20th edition of the India-France Joint Staff talks was held in Paris, France on April 12-13, 2022.

The focus of discussion was on new initiatives under the ambit of existing bilateral defence cooperation mechanism and strengthening ongoing defence engagements.

The forum was established to enhance defence cooperation between both nations through regular talks at the strategic and operational levels.

Chief of the Army Staff: General Manoj Mukund Naravane

World Hemophilia Day observed on April 17

To raise awareness about the bleeding disorder and to bring it to the attention of policymakers, April 17 was observed as World Hemophilia Day every year.

Theme 2022: Access for All: Partnership. Policy. Progress

April 17 was chosen to commemorate the birthday of Frank Schnabel, the founder of the World Federation of Hemophilia.

Hemophilia is a rare disorder in which the blood of the patient does not clot properly due to lack of blood-clotting proteins.

Beach Festival I Sea PONDY-2022

Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan has inaugurated the Puducherry's first-ever Beach Festival named I Sea PONDY-2022 in the presence of the Chief Minister N. Rangasamy.

The four days festival will be celebrated in Puducherry Gandhi Beach, Pondy Marina, and Sandunes of Paradise Beach.

Various cultural events and contests organised during the festival.

Tamil Nadu won Men's National basketball championship

Tamil Nadu has defeated Punjab 87-69 in the final to win the men’s title in the 71st Senior National Basketball Championship.

In the men's summit clash, Tamil Nadu pulled ahead after a slow start when Punjab kept pace.

A Aravind and M Arvind Kumar was in the fine nick for the home team as they stamped their authority against their arch-rival.

Indian Railways team has won the women’s title after beating Telangana.

Twitter adopts limited-term shareholder rights

Twitter's board of directors has recently adopted a limited-term shareholder rights plan to prevent anyone from having more than 15% stake in company, the plan is also called a 'poison pill'.

This will make it harder for Elon Musk to acquire the social media company.

Currently, Elon Musk has around 9% of Twitter's shares and he has offered to acquire all the shares in Twitter he does not own for 54.20 dollar per share, valuing the company at 41.4 billion dollar.

Sajan Prakash wins gold in Danish Open swimming

Sajan Prakash has won gold in the men's 200m butterfly and Vedaant Madhavan clinched a silver medal in the men's 1500m freestyle event at the Danish Open swimming in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Prakash stopped the clock at 1.59.27 to stand atop the podium.

He became the first-ever Indian swimmer to achieve the 'A' qualification mark for the Olympics in Italy(2021).

Vedaant Madhavan, who is the son of actor R Madhavan clocked 15.57.86 to finish second in the 10-swimmer final.

Vice President unveils bronze statue of Pinnamaneni Koteswara Rao

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has arrived in Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh to unveil a bronze statue of Pinnamaneni Koteswara Rao.

Pinnamaneni Koteswara Rao served as Krishna Zilla Parishad Chairman for over 27 years in Machilipatnam.

VP will participate in various programmes arranged at Swarna Bharat Trust, Atkuru near Vijayawada.

Andhra Pradesh Capital: Amaravati; Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan; Chief minister: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy

Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth arrives in India

Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth has arrived in Mumbai on an eight-day visit to India.

Mauritius PM will participate in the Ceremony of the WHO-Global Centre for Traditional Medicine at Jamnagar on 19th April and the Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit at Gandhinagar in Gujarat on 20th April.

Pravind Kumar Jugnauth will also visit Varanasi. The visit will also improve the bilateral relations between the two nations.

Anurag Thakur inaugurates 40th 'Hunar Haat'

Anurag Thakur (Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports) has inaugurated the 40th edition of the 'Hunar Haat’ in the presence of Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

The 40th 'Hunar Haat' is a feasible platform to promote 'Swadeshi' products in Mumbai from 16th to 27th April 2022.

Under the initiative of Tejas skilling programme the skilled manpower will be sent to UAE.

India-US launched ‘Operation Broader Sword’

India and the USA, jointly conducted an ‘Operation Broader Sword’ to stop the illegal shipment of drugs through the International Mail System.

It targeted shipments of illicit, potentially dangerous, unapproved prescription drugs, combination medical devices, and synthetic drug precursors shipped through International Mail Facilities.

The operation resulted in the interception of over 500 shipments of illicit and unapproved prescription drugs bound for US consumers.

NLU Delhi launches research affiliate program ‘Eklavya’

The National Law University (NLU), Delhi launched Eklavya, a ‘Research Affiliate’ program, for those who do not have a traditional law degree.

Aim: To emphasize its commitment to actively seek partnerships outside the varsity and draw from their experiences and perspectives to develop quality legal scholarship. 

It is open to those who have at least three years of demonstrable experience working on issues that have a significant interface with the law.

CarTrade Tech to acquire OLX India's auto business for Rs 537 cr

Mumbai-based used cars platform CarTrade Tech Ltd will acquire online marketplace OLX India's auto sales business for Rs 537 crore.

CarTrade will acquire a 100% stake in Sobek Auto India Pvt Ltd, the entity that houses OLX India’s Automotive business, in an all-cash deal.

The acquisition will likely to be completed in 21-30 days.

Sobek is a company incorporated under the Companies Act, of 2013.

It is engaged in the business of running an automotive digital platform.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance wins Insurer Innovation Award 2023

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has won the Insurer Innovation Award 2023 for the APAC region at the 8th World Digital Insurance Awards, hosted by TDI - The Digital Insurer.

Recognition: Bajaj Allianz Life's ground-breaking WhatsApp Conversational Platform - empowering customers to digitally services their policies seamlessly. 

The award entries were shortlisted by industry experts and the winner was selected by the community through pre-voting and live event voting.

OCA elects Sheikh Talal as the new President

Kuwait’s Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah has been elected as the new President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

He replaced his older brother Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who led the OCA for 30 years until 2021.

The OCA was founded in 1982 by his father Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who led it until 1990.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees.

Gujarat CM launches pilot project of ‘Antyodaya Shramik Suraksha Yojana’

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel launched the Antyodaya Shram Suraksha Accident Insurance Scheme from Kheda

All those registered under the e-Shram portal from Nadiad will benefit from the scheme.

It is being implemented through the Indian Postal Department, the IPPB, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Under this scheme, insurance with a premium of Rs. 289 and Rs. 499 per year will be a big support to workers in the event of death or partial disability.

MoHUA conducts SBM-U 2.0 Planning & Implementation Review-cum-Workshop

The Housing Ministry organized a review-cum-workshop to evaluate and accelerate the planning and implementation of the SBM-Urban 2.0.

PM Modi launched the 2.0 versions of SBM-U and AMRUT on October 1, 2021.

SBM-U 2.0: Achieving 100% waste segregation in all households and premises and 100% door-to-door collection of segregated waste from each. 

AMRUT 2.0: To provide complete coverage of water supply to all households and sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities. 

World Population Day 2023: 11 July

World Population Day is observed every year on July 11 in order to raise awareness about global population issues, including population control.

2023 theme: Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities. 

It was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989, after the day the world approximately reached a population of five billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.

India overtakes China as most attractive emerging market for investing

According to a study by Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management, India has overtaken China to become the most attractive emerging market for investing in sovereign wealth funds this year.

Reason: This is due to its solid demographics, political stability, and proactive regulation. 

Positives for the nation also include the rapidly expanding demography, strong regulatory actions, and a welcoming climate for sovereign investors.

L&T and Spain's Navantia sign agreement for submarine project

L&T has signed a teaming agreement with Spanish-based Navantia for the submission of a techno-commercial bid for the Indian Navy’s prestigious P75 (India) submarine program.

P75 (India) Submarine Project is expected to be valued at €4.8 billion.

Navantia would carry out the design of P75(I) submarines based on its S80 class of submarines.

The first S80 class submarine was launched in 2021 and is undergoing sea trials prior to its delivery to Spanish Navy.