Scientists have successfully completed the first test drive of a DNA ‘unicycle’ – a tiny machine made of genetic material powered by chemical energy that could perform directed movements. Researchers from the University of Bonn in Germany and the University of Michigan in the US used structures made of DNA nano rings to make the vehicle. The two rings are linked like a chain. The tiny vehicle is only 30 nanometers in size. Fuel is given by the protein “T7 RNA polymerase”, as per study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. This enzyme is coupled to the ring that serves as an engine. It synthesizes an RNA strand based on the DNA sequence. It uses the chemical energy released during this process for the rotational movement of the DNA ring. This ever-expanding RNA thread, which comes from the engine as a waste product, is used to keep the tiny vehicle on its path by using markings on a DNA-nanotube track. The unicycle machine attached to this thread, covered about 240 nanometers on its test drive. The construction of the nanomachine is based on the principle of self-organisation.

On 11th April 2018, the 63rd Railway Week Function of Railway Board was organized in Rail Bhavan, New Delhi. Ashwani Lohani, Chairman, Railway Board, presided over the function. He presented Merit Certificates and Cash Awards to officials of Railway Board for their outstanding performances during 2017-18. He presented the Running Efficiency Shield to ERB-III and TC-I Sections (jointly) of Railway Board selected as “Best Kept Section’. Also, Merit Certificates and Cash Awards were presented to 2 other well-maintained sections. Merit Certificates and Cash Awards were given to 69 officials of Railway Board for outstanding performance in 2017-18. 52 Cash Awards were presented to sportspersons and 10 Cash Awards to Cultural artists along with Appreciation Letters for outstanding performance in the Inter-Ministry and All India Civil Services Tournaments. 3 Cash Awards were presented to Horticulture staff of Rail Bhawan for their excellent work. Chairman Railway Board Trophy for Best Railway Engineer Regiment (TA) was awarded to Railway Engineer Regiment (TA), Chandigarh.

On April 7, 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli met in New Delhi and held discussion to expand bilateral ties in developmental cooperation, agriculture, trade & investment, energy, connectivity & people-to-people contacts. Both the Prime Ministers jointly pushed a button to virtually lay the foundation stone of the 900 MW Arun III hydroelectric project, for which Indian Government will provide USD 1.5 billion. This project will be built by Sutlej Jal Vikas Nigam.

The integrated checkpost at Birgunj-Raxaul, the main entry-exit point on the open India-Nepal border, was also remotely inaugurated by both the Prime Ministers.

India will build a strategic railway link between Raxaul in Bihar and Kathmandu in Nepal to enhance people-to-people linkages and promote economic growth and development. Announcement in this regard was made on April 7, 2018, after delegation-level talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli. Thus, a new electrified rail line connecting Raxaul to Nepal’s Capital Kathmandu will be constructed and will be entirely financed by India. This railway line holds strategic significance as in March 2016, China had agreed to construct a railway link with Nepal through Tibet, aimed at reducing Kathmandu’s dependence on India.

On April 7, 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepal counterpart K P Sharma Oli launched the ground-breaking ceremony of Rs 3.24 billion India-Nepal petroleum products pipeline from Motihari to Amlekhgunj. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed in August 2015 between Indian Oil Corporation and Nepal Oil Corporation. The 69-km-long pipeline (32.7 km of pipeline in the Indian Territory and 36.2 km in Nepal territory) is the first international cross-country petroleum pipeline project in India. A 10.75-inch diameter cross-country pipeline will be laid from Motihari in Bihar to Amlekhganj in Nepal.

Goa State Government has decided to launch its own app-based taxi service at some key tourist destinations across the state. Earlier, tourist taxi operators who run their businesses individually in Goa, opposed attempts made by online cab aggregators like Ola to start services in the state, fearing that such a move will affect their business. Thus, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) itself decided to start the new mobile application-based transport service and invited the taxi operators to register with it. All taxi operators, who hold licence to run cabs in Goa, are eligible to register for this application-based transport service. The app-based taxis would operate from locations like GTDC residencies (hotels) across the state and registered taxi operators will have to follow the online queuing system, based on which a ride will be confirmed or assigned to them.

Maharashtra State Government has announced that, starting from June 2018, cancer patients in the state would be provided free chemotherapy treatment at district hospitals. This facility will be rolled out in phased manner, starting with hospitals in Nagpur, Pune, Gadchiroli, Amravati, Jalgaon, Nashik, Satara, Wardha, Bhandara and Akola. Availability of free chemotherapy at district hospitals will provide relief to cancer patients, who have to come to Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel by incurring travel and lodging expenses and face related inconvenience. A physician and nurse from each of the district hospitals (where chemotherapy treatment will be provided ) would be imparted training by the Medical Oncology department of Tata Memorial. In context of this news, it is important to note that according to the National Cancer Registry Programme, 11 lakh people are diagnosed with cancer every year across India.

With an aim to make organ transplants more transparent in the state, Kerala State Government has issued guidelines to be followed to confirm brain death cases. A medical board comprising four doctors, including one in government service, will be the competent authority to declare a patient brain-dead. The guidelines have been divided in to three stages viz. – precautions to be taken before tests to determine brain death, analysis of reflective actions of brain and apnea test (known as sleep test). Distinction between a state of coma and brain has also been clearly outlined by precise definitions. A state of unconsciousness caused by damage to particular nerves of brain has been defined as ‘Coma’ while state of permanent destruction of brain cells caused by excessive bleeding in brain has been defined as ‘Brain Death’.

51-day long 8th Theatre Olympics, concluded in Mumbai on April 8, 2018. Theatre Olympics is the largest international theatre festival and was held in India for the first time. 8th edition of Theatre Olympics was inaugurated by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu at the Red Fort, Delhi, on February 17, 2018. This event brought together around 25000 artists under the theme “Flag of Friendship”. 8th Theatre Olympics witnessed 450 shows from more than 30 countries performed across 17 Indian cities – Agartala, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Guwahati, Jaipur, Imphal, Jammu, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Patna, Thiruvananthapuram, and Varanasi. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Culture, Dr. Mahesh Sharma and veteran Bollywood actor Nana Patekar were Guests of Honour.

Odisha Public e-library set up by Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) and Odisha Society of America (OSA) has started functioning from the Berhampur Town Hall in Odisha. The Odisha Public e-library is expected to support the library movement of Odisha and help computer literate students. This library was inaugurated by Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik at BeMC’s Maharaj Krushna Chandra Gajapati Research Library in Berhampur on 31st August 2017. Later it was moved to the Town Hall since it has more space and parking slots. The library has 12 computers, two servers and a projector. The library was opened for the public on 4th April 2018. The BeMC will connect with the National Informatics Center (NIC) so that its e-Granthalaya can also be accessed. The library has employed two staff members and one technical worker. OSA (Odisha Society of America) is an association of Odia people living in the US. OSA had offered Rs 20 lakh for the e-library through chief minister’s relief fund.

The UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) has introduced secure digitally-signed QR Code on e-Aadhaar that will contain photograph of the Aadhaar holder along with demographic details. UIDAI has replaced the existing QR code on e-Aadhaar containing the Aadhar holder’s demographic details with a secured digitally-signed QR Code that contains demographics along with photograph of the Aadhaar holder. This has been introduced to enable better offline verification of an individual. QR code is a form of barcode label containing machine-readable information. e-Aadhaar is the electronic version of Aadhaar. It can be downloaded from UIDAI website. This new facility enables user agencies like banks to verify authenticity of Aadhaar card offline. Still, to confirm that a person is a bona fide owner of the Aadhaar card, a manual check of photo with the individual’s face, should be performed. UIDAI’s e-Aadhaar QR Code reader software has been made available on its website since 27th March 2018. Now, in the e-Aadhaar, there will be a small QR code on front side of cutaway portion, with demographic data only. Large QR code on top portion of front side and the back will contain demographic data and photo. To make this information more secure and tamper-proof it will be signed with UIDAI digital signature.

On 9th April 2018, Export Promotion Council for EoUs and SEZs (EPCES) announced that, it has launched a new membership software application. The new membership software application will help EPCES members to digitally interact with the council. The facility is available athttps://membership.epces.in. It will also help to reduce delays and paperwork for the members. The new facility allows members to renew their membership, apply for new membership or to download certificates, also. Officiating Chairman EPCES, Vinay Sharma said that, this move has been made with an aim to save paper and create a better work environment.

On April 8, 2018, Singapore and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Beijing to promote greater collaboration between Singapore and Chinese companies in third-party markets along the Belt and Road initiative. Belt and Road initiative is a strategic developmental project proposed by Chinese president Xi Jinping in year 2013. The project aims to connect China with Eurasia through land-based “Silk Road Economic Belt” (SREB) and ocean going “Maritime Silk Road” (MSR). As per the terms of the MoU, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and NDRC (China’s lead agency for BRI) will form a working group to identify sectors and markets of mutual interest, and organise business matching activities and forums to facilitate third-party market cooperation between Singapore and Chinese companies along the Belt and Road. Commercial and policy banks, insurers and financial institutions will also be roped in to support the financing and project structuring needs of third-party market ventures.

On April 9, 2018, President of India, Ram Nath Kovind concluded his visit to Equatorial Guinea, the first leg of his visit to three African nations – Equatorial Guinea, Swaziland and Zambia. Mr. Ram Nath Kovind is the first President of India to visit Equatorial Guinea. President Ram Nath Kovind was conferred with the ‘Condecoracion’, the highest honour accorded to a non-citizen by the government of Equatorial Guinea. So far, ‘Condecoracion’ has been awarded only to select heads of state. During his meeting with Equatorial Guinea President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President Kovind discussed various issues of global and regional interest, and also agreed to expand bilateral partnership towards cooperation in the fields of agriculture, mining, health, telecommunication and Information Technology (IT). During the course of this visit, India and Equatorial Guinea signed three Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the fields of AYUSH and traditional medicine; medicinal plants; and an action plan for Information and Communication Technology.

Veena Sahajwalla, an Indian-origin scientist in Australia, has launched the world’s first microfactory that can transform the components from electronic waste like smartphones and laptops into valuable materials for re-use. Veena Sahajwalla, a professor at the University of New South Wales, said that, the e-waste microfactory can also convert many types of consumer waste like glass, plastic and timber into commercial materials and products. Veena Sahajwalla pursued her BTech degree in metallurgical engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1986. She said that, the transformed materials include metal alloys and various micromaterials. They can be used in industrial-grade ceramics. Specific quality plastics from computers, printers and other discarded sources can be converted to filaments and used for 3D-printing applications.

India’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI) will be investing a total of Rs 80 billion in the 900 megawatt (MW) Arun III hydropower project of Nepal. The contract for constructing this project has been awarded to Sutlej Jal Vikas Nigam (SJVN) and SJVN has made an agreement with the SBI to acquire the investment as a loan. Indian Government has already granted approval to SJVN to invest Rs. 92 billion in this project. This project is targeted to be completed by September 2022. On account of investment, SJVN will take the charge for 25 years excluding the time for the construction.

11 public sector banks have been placed under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework due to non-performing assets. These banks have been placed under RBI’s PCA framework to keep a check on NPAs. Generally, lending activities of banks under PCA are restricted. They are also restricted from opening new branches, staff recruitment and increasing the size of their loan book. They are instructed to disburse loans only to companies whose borrowing is above investment grades. The 11 public sector banks under RBI’s PCA Framework are:
• Allahabad Bank
• United Bank of India
• Corporation Bank
• IDBI Bank
• UCO Bank
• Bank of India
• Central Bank of India
• Indian Overseas Bank
• Oriental Bank of Commerce
• Dena Bank
• Bank of Maharashtra
Five more banks are expected to be brought under RBI’s PCA framework. They are:
• Andhra Bank
• Punjab National Bank
• Canara Bank
• Union Bank
• Punjab & Sind Bank.
If more state-owned banks are placed under PCA, it is expected that credit availability for the MSME (Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) sector will be affected. It is said that it will take a minimum of 6-9 months for these banks to show noticeable improvement in the major regulatory indicators, in order to move out of PCA.

On 9th April 2018, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (RInfra) said that, it has won a Rs 1,081 crore contract from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) for work in two units of the Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu. RInfra said that, it has obtained purchase order of Rs 1,081 crore for Common Services System, Structure & Components (SSC) package and allied civil works of Unit -3 and 4 of the Kudankulam project at Tirunelveli District. The contract comprises design, engineering, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of SSC package and allied civil works on EPC basis. This project will be commissioned in 56 months. The contract value is inclusive of taxes and duties and also has imported component of USD 23.2 million.

Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot has been made a member of Congress central election committee. The Congress central election committee selects candidates during elections. It has been said that Ashok Gehlot will become a member of the key committee chaired by Congress president Rahul Gandhi with immediate effect. Ashok Gehlot is a former chief minister of Rajasthan. He was appointed the AICC (All India Congress Committee) general secretary in charge of organisation and training of party cadres, recently.

The Health Ministry has banned over the counter sale of 14 skin creams and ointments containing steroids. This ban has been imposed in response to dermatologists’ campaign against these skin creams and ointments containing steroids. They had been insisting ban on manufacture and sale of steroid based ointments by the Union ministry of health and family welfare, stating that they are dangerous and cause fungal epidemic in India. Now, these creams can be bought using doctor’s prescription only. Health ministry said that, a notification has been issued by placing 14 drugs under the Schedule H of the Drugs and Cosmetic Rules, 1945, based on recommendations of the Drug and Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) under the Drug Controller General of India.

A new class of antibiotics named “Odilorhabdins” has been discovered which can help in fighting drug-resistant or hard-to-treat bacterial infections. The antibiotic called odilorhabdins, or ODLs, are developed by symbiotic bacteria present in soil-dwelling nematode worms that colonise insects for food. The bacteria helps to kill the insect and secretes the antibiotic to keep competing bacteria away. Researchers from the University of Illinois (UIC) at Chicago and Nosopharm, a France-based biotechnology company, were involved in this study. It has been found that ODLs act on the ribosome of bacterial cells. When ODL is bound to ribosome, it disrupts its ability to interpret and translate genetic code.

At least four kingfisher species are thriving in the Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh. The four kingfisher species were documented and photographed by a team of Wildlife Management Division, Eluru, under the control of wetland expert Allaparthi Appa Rao. The Forest Department team spotted these kingfisher species during its field visits as a part of a fauna survey. The species have been identified as White-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis), Pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis), Black-capped kingfisher (Halcyon pileate) and the Common kingfisher. The birds are thriving there as the sanctuary is an ideal habitation for prey.

On April 7, 2018, Ganga Hariteema Yojana (Ganga Greenery scheme) was launched in 27 districts of Uttar Pradesh, located on the bank of river Ganga. The scheme was launched by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at Allahabad on the bank of Sangam, the confluence of rivers of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati. It envisages carrying out plantation drives in one-kilometre areas from the banks of river. The objective is to enhance green cover in the catchment areas of the river Ganga and to control the land erosion. Uttar Pradesh’s Department of Forest has been nominated as nodal department for this scheme, while total seven state government departments will be engaged in implementation. The scheme will be carried out till September 16, 2018 (Ozone Day).

On April 8, 2018, Union Food Processing Industries Minister, Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated Uttarakhand’s second Mega Food Park in Udham Singh Nagar district. Uttarakhand’s Second Mega Food Park, M/s Himalayan Mega Food Park Private Ltd, is being set up over an area of 50.14 acres at a cost of Rs 99.96 crore. Central Processing Centre (CPC) of this Mega Food Park will have a Multi-Purpose Cold Storage, Aseptic Brick Filling Line, Dry Warehouse, Fruit & Vegetable Processing Line, Quality Control & Food Testing Lab and other related food processing facilities. This Mega Food Park will benefit around 25000 farmers in Udham Singh Nagar district as well as neighbouring districts of Nainital, Garhwal, Almora and Champawat. Besides, it will also provide direct and indirect employment to 5000 persons. It is to be noted that Uttarakhand’s first Mega Food Park is located at Haridwar and has already become operational.

On April 8, 2018, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) scheme in Delhi. During the launch event, Mr. Pradhan distributed about 400 LPG connections to families belonging to below poverty line category. PMUY was launched in May 2016. The objective of this scheme is to provide deposit-free LPG connections with monetary assistance to women from below poverty line (BPL) households, thereby preventing health hazards emanating from usage of unclean cooking fuel and fossil fuel for domestic cooking purpose. PMUY is administered by Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. PMUY has so far transformed the lives of more than 3.5 crore women. Target under this scheme has been increased from the existing 5 crore connections to 8 crore connections by 2020.

On April 7, 2018, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb launched state component of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) in Agartala. PMKVY is a skill development initiative of Government of India aimed at encouraging aptitude towards employable skills and increasing working efficiency of probable and existing daily wage earners, by providing quality training to them. Tripura has thereby become the first North East Indian state to implement state component of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) through Directorate of Skill Development (DSD). As a part of the implementation process, DSD has already launched 13 accredited training centres across five districts of Tripura. Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has expressed hope that target of imparting training to 116000 youths by 2020 will be achieved and will eventually solve the problem of unemployment.

In May-June 2018, Kerala State Government will start a ‘community radio’ to update farmers about the latest developments in the sector. This will be the first such community radio in India, under Government initiative to get connected with the farming community. The farm radio will start broadcast from Kuttanad in Alappuzha district of Kerala and will serve farmers in a 20 square kilometre radius in the region. Kuttanand was once popularly known as the ‘rice bowl of Kerala. This ‘community radio’ will serve as a platform to provide range of information to farmers including climate change and environment issues, tips and information on various aspects of agriculture and agrarian crisis and alerts. It will be launched under the Farm Information Bureau (FIB) of the Kerala State’s Agriculture Department.

Madhubani railway station in Bihar, which was once considered as a dirty railway station has got a makeover with the traditional Mithila paintings. Mithila art, also referred to as Madhubani art is practiced in the Mithila region (in Bihar). These paintings constitute geometrical patterns drawn with twigs, fingers, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks, using natural dyes and pigments. More than 225 artists, comprising 80 per cent women, volunteered to paint the station free of cost. This feat is equivalent to a world record as the total wall area of more than 14000 sq ft has been fully painted with various themes under traditional Mithila painting style. In addition to paintings, Madhubani station has now transformed as one of the cleanest stations.

IHHC (India Home Health Care) has become the first home health care company to create a dedicated ICU simulation lab to train nursing staff, at its Bengaluru facility. This advanced simulation lab will offer hands-on training modules and aide nursing staff to improve the quality of medical and healthcare services offered to homes. The ICU simulation lab recreates real-life scenarios through patient simulators, digitalised video, computer charting, electronic supply, static mannequins, etc. Through this, IHHC will introduce critical care at home services. IHHC customers can now enjoy enhanced care service in the comfort of their homes.

Prof Panchanan Mohanty, former dean of the School of Humanities at University of Hyderabad (UoH) has discovered two new languages: Walmiki and Malhar. These languages were discovered by Prof Mohanty as a part of the research activity of the Centre for Endangered Languages and Mother Tongue Studies, UoH. These languages were unknown to linguists so far. Walmiki is spoken in Koraput of Odisha and in the bordering districts of Andhra Pradesh. Prof Mohanty has published a paper in the proceedings of the XX annual conference of the Foundation for Endangered Languages, UK. Walmiki is an isolate language (it does not belong to a family of languages). The community speaking Walmiki claims descent from Indian saint-poet Valmiki. Malhar is spoken in an isolated region 165 km away from Bhubaneswar in Odisha. Around 75 people form the community that speaks Malhar language. As per preliminary data that has been collected, it belongs to the North Dravidian subgroup of the Dravidian family of languages. It is closely associated with other North Dravidian languages like Malto and Kurux.

On 7th and 8th April 2018, the Assam Spring Festival was held at the Manas National Park, in Assam. The Assam Spring Festival was organized by Indian Weavers’ Association and the Swankar Mithinga Onsai Afat. Swankar Mithinga Onsai Afat is an association of reformed poachers who are now involved in wildlife conservation in Manas. The aim of the festival is to promote the local food and culture. The Manas National park is also a tiger and rhino reserve. It covers five districts of Assam: Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang, Udalguri and Barpeta. A celebrity cooking event was conducted by chef Gautam Mehrishi and food blogger Kalyan Karmakar. Musician Joi Baruah also performed at the festival. The festival featured village tours, display of local handicraft and handloom, cultural shows, local folk music and tasting of local cuisines and delicacies.

On April 8, 2018, Japan activated its Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB), its first marine unit since World War Two. The activation ceremony was held at a military base near Sasebo on the southwest island of Kyushu, wherein about 1500 ARDB members conducted a 20-minute mock public exercise recapturing a remote island from invaders. The unit is the latest component of Japan’s growing marine force that includes helicopter carriers, amphibious ships, Osprey tilt-rotor troop carriers and amphibious assault vehicles. In context of this news, it is important to note that in Japan’s Constitution that was formed after World War Two, it renounced the right to wage war. The marine unit has been activated to counter invaders who attempt to occupy Japanese islands along the edge of the East China Sea. Japan fears that those islands are vulnerable to attack by China.

On April 8, 2018, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stated that India and South Korea will sign a pact to provide Indian seafarers employment on over 500 Korean ships. The pact will prove to be mutually beneficial for both the countries as Korea is a large ship-owning nation and India is a large seafaring nation with over 1.5 lakh seafarers. It will not only create job opportunities for Indian seafarers, but will also grant recognition of maritime education and training certificates for seafarers issued by the governments of both the countries. Mr. Gadkari will be on a four-day visit to South Korea from April 9, 2018. During the course of this visit, India and South Korea will also explore partnerships in shipbuilding, waterways and smart transportation.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malaysia concluded “Desert Tiger 5” joint military exercise aimed at sharing expertise and enhancing joint military actions. This exercise was conducted within the framework of the UAE leadership’s continued desire to support and create unique partnership with Malaysia. It was aimed at improving combat readiness, raising combat efficiency and enhance interoperability of the ground forces of both the countries. The concluding ceremony was attended by General Dato’ Sri Zulkiple bin Hj Kassim – Malaysian Chief of Army and Brigadier Saeed Rashid Al Shehi – Deputy Commander of the UAE land forces.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to use Gross Domestic Product (GDP) instead of Gross Value Added (GVA) to measure economic activity in India. Viral Acharya, deputy governor of RBI said that, this change has been done to confirm with international practice and for ease of comparison. Worldwide, the performance of economies is measured in terms of GDP. Multilateral institutions, international analysts and investors also follow this approach. GVA gives the picture of the state of economic activity from the producers’ side or the supply side. GDP provides the picture from the consumers’ side or the demand side. The Central Statistical Office has been employing GDP as the main tool to measure economic activity since January 2015.

On April 6, 2018, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in consultation with the Central Government, hiked the foreign portfolio investors (FPI) investment limit in Central government securities (G-Sec). The FPI investment limit in G-Sec has been hiked from 5 per cent of outstanding stock now to 5.5 per cent in Financial Year 2018-19 and 6 per cent in Financial Year 2020. As per the current situation, 99.31 per cent of the upper FII investment limit in G-Secs, amounting to Rs.191300 has already been utilised. As per National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) data, only Rs.1311 crore investment could be accommodated to contain total FPI investments in G-Sec within 5 per cent limit. Athough the hike in limit is lesser than market expectations, it would dampen bond yields in the immediate term.

Dadasaheb Phalke Foundation has decided to honour Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma with the Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award for 2018. Anushka Sharma is an actor and producer in the Bollywood film industry. She has been promoting content-driven or experimental cinema, and encouraging fresh talents, through her production company Clean Slate Films. Dadasaheb Phalke Foundation honours her contributions with the Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award for 2018.

On 5th to 7th April 2018, Goafest 2018 was held at Grand Hyatt Hotel, in Bambolim, Goa. This is the 13th edition of Goafest. Goafest is organised by the Advertising Club along with the Advertising Agencies Association of India. Social Street won the Creative Agency of the Year award, with three gold, seven silver and seven bronze metals and a score of 94. Social Street was started by Pratap Bose three years ago. Early Man Film won the Grand Prix in Creative Abby Awards.

On 7th April 2018, Leander Paes won Davis Cup and secured his 43rd doubles win of his career in the competition, in Tianjin, China. India’s Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna pair defeated China’s Gong Mao Xin and Zhang Ze 5-7, 7-6, 7-6 in the second round of the zonal Davis Cup tie. Leander Paes has won his 43rd Davis Cup doubles match. He has broken the 46-year-old record of Italian player Nicola Pietrangeli andbecome the Davis Cup’s most successful doubles player.

On 8th April 2018, former BSF (Border Security Force) director general (DG) E N Rammohan died at AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) hospital, New Delhi. E N Rammohan was 77 years old. He was admitted at AIIMS hospital after he met with an accident and fractured his ribs. He was also suffering from prostate cancer. He was an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1965 batch of Assam-Meghalaya cadre. He was the director general (DG) of Border Security Force (BSF) in the 1997 to 2000 period. He had also worked in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the National Security Guard (NSG) and the ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police).

On 8th April 2018, International Romani Day 2018 was celebrated all over the world. The International Romani Day also known as International Roma Day celebrates Romani culture and creates awareness on issues faced by Romani people. It is celebrated every year on 8th April. International Romani Day was officially declared at the fourth World Romani Congress of the International Romani Union (IRU) in Serock, Poland, in 1990. This day remembers the first major international meeting of Romani representatives held between 7th and 12th April 1971 in Chelsfield, England.

From 10th to 23rd April, 2018, Indian Air Force (IAF) will conduct exercise ‘Gagan Shakti, 2018’, its biggest ever combat exercise along Pakistan and China borders. The exercise will be conducted in day and night mode, with the enemy encompassing China border in the Northern areas and along Pakistan border in the Western areas. IAF will mobilise more than 1100 combat, transport and rotary wing (helicopter) aircraft for Exercise Gaganshakti 2018. Indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will be taking part in the exercise for the first time. Besides, Indian Navy’s Maritime Combat Aircraft MiG 29s will also take part. Nearly 300 officers and more than 15000 airmen have been mobilised for this exercise. Exercise Gaganshakti 2018 will showcase Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) offensive as well as defensive capabilities.

Tamil Nadu (TN) Chief Minister K Palaniswami recently launched ‘Uzhavan’ (meaning – farmer), a mobile application for farmers. This app allows farmers to have access to nine types of services, including details about their crop insurance, information on farm subsidies, book farm equipment and related infrastructure and receiving weather forecast for the next four days. ‘Uzhavan’ app is available in Tamil as well as in English. The app also provides information on the available stocks of seeds and fertilisers in local government and private stores. This app is an attempt by Tamil Nadu State Government to use technology for benefit of farmers in the state.

Indian Railway has inducted three ‘09-3X Dynamic Tamping Express machines’, the state of the art integrated track maintenance machines. ’09-3X- Dynamic Tamping Express’ is an integrated machine that carries out multiple functions viz. measures pre & post track geometry, corrects the track to required geometry, can tamp three sleepers simultaneously, stabilize and measure post tamping track parameters under load to ensure quality of work done. So far, each of these functions were being carried out by different machines. Each new 09-3X- Dynamic Tamping Express machine costs about Rs. 27 Crore. 42 more such machines will be inducted in Indian Railway maintenance fleet over next three years. A new 3D state-of-the-art tamping simulator has been installed and commissioned at Indian Railway Track Machine Training Centre Allahabad (IRTMTC) for practical hands-on training to operate such advanced track maintenance machines. Such advanced technology simulator is presently available only in five countries including India.

On April 6, 2018, Indian Government banned imports of the hormone oxytocin to stop its misuse in the livestock industry. Oxytocin is referred to as “love hormone”. It is released naturally during human bonding activities such as sex, childbirth and breastfeeding. Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has stated that abuse of ‘oxytocin’ in animals, especially milch animals, causes hormonal imbalances and makes them barren sooner. ‘oxytocin’ is a prescription-only drug and Indian Government had halted its retail sales in 2014. However, attempt to curb its illegal sales has met with limited success and the volume of imports is unclear. Ban on import of ‘oxytocin’ has been imposed based on recommendations of a panel of top drug experts. Ban on import of ‘oxytocin’, for human or animal use has been imposed with immediate effect and Central Board of Excise and Customs has stepped up vigilance against those likely to try and smuggle ‘oxytocin’ into India.

Central Government’s ‘Gobardhan Yojna’, a scheme for managing and converting cattle dung and solid waste into manure and biogas, will be launched nationally from Karnal, Haryana on April 30, 2018. Word ‘Gobar’ in ‘Gobardhan Yojna’ is to be referred as abbreviation of Galvanising Organic Bio Agro Resources. This scheme was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting Union Budget 2018. Under this scheme, bio-gas plants will be set up at individual or community level and also at the level of Self Help Groups and NGOs like Gaushalas. Funds required to set up bio-gas plants will be provided by central and state governments in the ratio of 60:40. Generating energy by converting cattle dung and solid agricultural waste into compost and biogas will also ensure cleanliness in villages. Government has set a target to cover nearly 700 districts under the scheme during 2018-19.

NITI Aayog is planning to build National Data & Analytics Platform (NDAP) to host and analyse huge amount of data which shall be helpful for citizens to understand spend patterns of the government, consumption trends and the success of various government policies. Objective behind developing this platform is to increase transparency in government functioning by giving citizens access to this data. NDAP will be developed through public-private partnership on design, build, operate and transfer basis. Cost of developing NDAP could between Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore and would entirely be funded by NITI Aayog. Initially, data from Central Ministries will be sourced, followed by data from state and districts. Both, Public as well as private entities will have access to this platform. NDAP will use artificial intelligence (AI) for in-depth analysis.

As per a report by OpenSignal, Patna has ranked No.1 among 20 largest cities in India in terms of 4G availability. OpenSignal is Lonon-based company that specializes in wireless coverage mapping. It monitored 4G user experience (availability) in India’s 20 largest cities for 90 days from December 1, 2017. The findings have revealed that Patna has topped the list and is placed ahead of cities like Delhi, Mumbai and even Bengaluru, which is considered a tech hub of India. The report also outlined that difference between Indian cities in terms of 4G connectivity is also narrowing down.
4G Availability – Top 10:
City – Availability Time (in % terms) for 90 days
Patna – 92.61%
Kanpur – 91.33%
Allahabad – 91.04%
Kolkata – 91.02%
Bhopal – 90.99%
Jaipur – 90.31%
Ahmedabad – 89.93%
Lucknow – 89.35%
Chandigarh – 88.46%
Bengaluru – 88.29%

As part of its ‘Customer First’ initiative, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has launched three ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT)-based customer service initiatives on a pilot basis at one of its branch in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. First initiative is a sound pressure level meter placed at the branch service counter with a configured average decibel level. Whenever the sound at this counter crosses the average threshold, the system sends an alert to the branch manager as well as the designated official at the regional office, on a real-time basis. Second initiative is to provided a tablet containing a web responsive application to customers visiting the branch. Visiting customers can submit their feedback through this application which also has ‘Happy’ and ‘Unhappy’ emoticons. The feedback will be monitored by a team of dedicated customer service representatives. Third initiative is a ‘Missed Call Feedback’ system wherein customers can give a missed call on the dedicated mobile numbers in case of grievances.