This Cooperation Arrangement will be between Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation & Livestock (MAIL). The arrangement envisages information sharing, training and capacity building measures and mutual learning of best practices to improve food safety ecosystem. The areas of cooperation also include technical exchange on import procedures, quality control operations, sampling, testing, packaging and labelling.

On 5th and 6th April 2018, Global Logistics Summit was held in New Delhi. The Global Logistics Summit was organised by the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, along with FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry) and the World Bank Group. The Summit acts as a platform to hold discussions for global experts, academics, government officials and private sector and industry representatives. Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu said that 56 new airports will be ready for operation in the next few years.

On April 5, 2018, Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated first flight from Delhi to Pathankot (in Punjab), at a ceremony held at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. Pathankot airport has been opened by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to improve regional connectivity as per the UDAN (‘Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik’) Scheme. It is the 21st airport in India, which has become operational for passengers. Civil Aviation Ministry launched Regional Connectivity Scheme ‘UDAN’ (‘Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik’) in October 2016. It aims at making flying a reality for common people residing in Tier-II and Tier-III towns by providing air connectivity to currently underserved and unserved airports. This scheme is implemented by Airports Authority of India (AAI).

On April 5, 2018, digital payments company PayPal and the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for promotion of outbound shipments among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). As per the terms of the MoU, PayPal will work with FIEO to educate SMEs on how to leverage global opportunities, help them receive money in a safe and timely manner with PayPal products and inform them of global best practices. The programmes and seminars undertaken for this purpose will not only create awareness but will also address some commonly faced challenges by SMEs. Through activities carried out under the scope of this MoU, FIEO will be able to reach out to cottage industries, MSMEs, artisans and clusters, even in distant areas to develop their orientation towards exports. It has been observed that despite of global opportunities, Indian SMEs focus on domestic market owing to risks and complex procedures associated with operating in global marketplace.

On 5th April 2018, President Ram Nath Kovind addressed the 34th annual session of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) in New Delhi. At the Annual session 10 Indian Women Achievers were presented the FLO ICON AWARDS. The award winners are:
• Banking & Finance – Ms Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank
• Health & Wellness – Dr Aarti Vij, Chief of AIIMS’ Organ Retrieval and Banking Organization (ORBO)
• Media Entrepreneurship – Ms Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director and Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms
• Conscientious Cinema – Ms Twinkle Khanna, Entrepreneur, Author, Film Producer
• Digital Entrepreneurship – Ms Falguni Nayar, Founder & CEO, NYKAA
• Science & Technology – Dr Tessy Thomas, Director, Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO)
• Promoting Literature – Ms Namita Gokhale, Author and Director of Jaipur Literature Festival
• Environmental Protection – Ms Bharati Chaturvedi, Founder of CHINTAN, Environmentalist and writer
• Commando Training – Dr Seema Rao, Commando Trainer, certified Doctor and MBA in crisis management
• Grassroots Mobilization – Ms Kamal Kumbhar, Social entrepreneur & Founder of Ekta Producer Company
Pinky Reddy took charge as New President of FLO at the annual session.

On 4th April 2018, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat launched a transformation campaign to improve the standard of education in the government schools of Uttarakhand. The main purpose of this campaign is to start smart classes in government schools and provide them with all basic facilities required by students like safe buildings, clean drinking water, furniture, fans, heaters, sports material and computers. Trivendra Singh Rawat said that one model school will be opened in Kumaon and another in Garhwal region to offer quality education to the poor and underprivileged children in classes 6 to 12. In Kumaon circle the model school will be opened in Almora. He asked the district administration to send a proposal about this to Uttarakhand state government after land is selected for the school.

IndiaFilings.com has launched online income tax filing services for salaried individuals. IndiaFilings’ online income tax filing service will help individuals and businesses file their income tax return using their platform. All income tax returns like ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-3, ITR-4, ITR-5, ITR-6 and ITR-7 can be filed online using their platform directly. In order to prevent errors made by users while filing tax returns, intelligence and in-built algorithms have been incorporated in the platform. Apart from this self-serve platform, IndiaFilings also offers assisted tax return filing services for all class of taxpayers beginning from Rs.488. The assisted tax return filing service provides a dedicated tax advisor. The tax advisor will advise on tax savings, tax computation and tax filing.

On 5th April 2018, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri launched the modernisation of the Government Press. The Government Press serves both the Houses of Parliament during session for printing services. It also prints important gazette notifications, ordinances and budget related materials. The Government Press will be modernised with advanced technology and machineries after it is re-developed by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD). It will be made ready by 2020. Amount sanctioned for the total project is Rs 338.56 crore. Out of this Rs 100 crore has been allotted for plant and machineries.

India has been ranked the third most vulnerable country in terms of risk of cyber threats in 2017, as per the ‘Internet Security Threat Report’ presented by Symantec, a security solutions provider. In 2017, 5.09% of global threats detected were in India. India has moved one position up compared to 2016. U.S. has been ranked as the top most vulnerable country to such attacks with 26.61% attacks. It is followed by China in the second position with 10.95% attacks. This global threat ranking is based on eight factors: malware, spam, phishing, bots, network attacks, web attacks, ransomware and cryptominers. India continues to be second most affected country by spam and bots, third most affected country by network attacks, and fourth most affected country by ransomware, according to the report.

On 4th April 2018, the presidents of Iran, Turkey and Russia met for their tripartite summit, aimed at speeding up the peace process for Syria and establishing their influence in Syria. The tripartite summit was hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey. It was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. This is the second such tripartite summit. The first tripartite summit was hosted by Vladimir Putin in November 2017 in Sochi, Russia. Iran, Turkey and Russia have supported peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. They believe that it is a parallel process to support UN-supported discussions in Geneva.

On April 5, 2018, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced First Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement for financial year 2018-19. This time too, the Policy Repo Rate has been kept unchanged.
Post the First Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement announcement, the policy rates and reserve ratios are as follows:
Policy Repo Rate 6.00% Unchanged – since 2nd August 2017
Reverse Repo Rate 5.75% Unchanged – since 2nd August 2017
Marginal Standing Facility Rate 6.25% Unchanged – since 2nd August 2017
Bank Rate 6.25% Unchanged – since 2nd August 2017
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) 4.00% Unchanged – since 9th February 2013
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) 19.50% With Effect from 14th October 2017

Ola has introduced an in-trip insurance programme for all its customers in India starting at just Re 1. This in-trip insurance will cover for loss of belongings, missed flights, and medical expenses up to Rs 500,000 in case of an accident. This service is optional. It will be available on rides taken in cabs, auto rickshaws, kaali-peeli cabs and e-rickshaws through Ola. Ola has partnered with Acko General Insurance and ICICI Lombard General Insurance for this in-trip insurance programme. Initially this service will be available in metro cities. Later it will be launched in the 110 cities where Ola operates. Customers selecting rental and outstation rides on Ola will also be offered this service at a cost of Rs 10 and Rs 15 per ride respectively. Ola has become the first ride-hailing app to launch this kind of insurance service for customers in India. Customers can make insurance claims through the Ola app itself.

India has surpassed Japan and has become the world’s second largest producer of crude steel in February 2018, according to Steel Users Federation of India (SUFI). China is the current largest producer of crude steel in the world. It contributes to more than 50% of steel production in the world. India’s crude steel production was up 4.4% with 93.11 million tonnes (MT) from April 2017 to February 2018, compared to April 2016 to February 2017. India has surpassed Japan and has become the second largest producer of crude steel in the world. Nikunj Turakhia, president of SUFI said that, India’s growth in steel production is due to the policies introduced by the government. According to the World Steel Association, India produced 8.4 MT of crude steel in February 2018, which is 3.4% more than February 2017.

Fashion retailer Myntra has appointed Mithun Sundar as its chief revenue officer. Mithun Sundar was PepsiCo India’s Head of Strategy. He will take charge as chief revenue officer of Myntra in June 2018. He will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Ananth Narayanan. He succeeds Naresh Krishnaswamy. Mithun Sundar has 13 years of experience in sales, marketing and strategy. Earlier he had worked with McKinsey and Unilever.

On 5th April 2018, Julius Maada Bio was elected the new President of Sierra Leone. On 5th April 2018, National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone announced that Julius Maada Bio won the presidential elections with 51.8 percent votes. He belongs to the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). He defeated Samura Kamara. Samura Kamara was the candidate of All People’s Congress, which is the ruling party. The presidential elections were conducted on 31st March 2018. Julius Maada Bio succeeds Ernest Bai Koroma. Julius Maada Bio ruled Sierra Leone as the military head in 1996, along with former foreign affairs minister Kamara. Julius Maada Bio took oath as the new President of Sierra Leone on 5th April 2018.

Virat Kohli has retained the second position in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings that was released on 4th April 2018. Virat Kohli has secured 912 points and obtained the second spot. Australian former captain Steve Smith has secured the top spot with 929 points. India’s Cheteshwar Pujara also retained his seventh position with 810 points. Also India’s Ajinkya Rahane and Lokesh Rahul have secured 18th and 11th spots respectively. Indian test spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has obtained fifth position with 803 points in the bowlers ranking. Ravindra Jadeja has obtained second position in the all-rounders ranking. South Africa’s Aiden Markram has secured ninth position in the batsmen ranking. New Zealand has surpassed Australia and secured third place in the ICC Test Team Rankings.

On 4th April 2018, Ray Wilkins, ex-England midfielder, passed away after suffering from a cardiac arrest, at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south-west London. Ray Wilkins was 61 years old. He had played 84 times for England from 1976 to 1986. He also served as a captain for 10 games. His nickname was “Butch.” He played for teams like Manchester United, Chelsea and AC Milan. He won the FA Cup in 1983 and the Scottish league title in 1989. He ended his club career in 1997. Later, he served as a commentator on British TV and radio.

On 5th April 2018, the 55th edition of National maritime Day was celebrated all over India. National maritime Day is celebrated on 5th April every year since 1964. On 5th April 1919, SS Loyalty, the first ship of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd started from Mumbai to the United Kingdom. This is a very important day in the history of Indian maritime sector. The theme for National maritime Day 2018 is: ‘Indian Shipping – An Ocean of opportunity’. On the National maritime Day, awareness on supporting safe and environmentally strong commerce between continents is highlighted. ‘Varuna’ award is conferred to outstanding contributors of Indian maritime sector on this day. Also, outstanding achievers in the field of education and training are awarded on this day.

On March 4, 2018, Himachal Pradesh Health Minister Vipin Parmar launched Mother’s Absolute Affection (MAA) programme with an aim to promote breastfeeding. Objective of MAA programme is to create awareness among masses about the importance of breastfeeding. Besides community awareness generation, other components of MAA programme are strengthening inter-personal communication through ASHA workers, skilled support for breastfeeding at delivery points in public health facilities and work places. Beastfeeding helps in reducing the incidence of infant mortality and early childhood mortality and provides complete nutrition to a child.

The UIDAI has unveiled the beta version of ‘Virtual ID’, which will soon be accepted by service providers in lieu of Aadhaar number. In January 2018, UIDAI had announced that it will come up with a ‘Virtual ID’ for Aadhaar Card-holders in order to address privacy concerns related to quoting Aadhaar. Virtual ID (VID), which an Aadhaar-card holder can generate from UIDAI’s website is a random 16-digit number mapped to a person’s Aadhaar number and biometrics. VID of the user would give any authorised agency like a mobile company, limited details such as name, address and photograph, which are enough for any verification. Thus VID will do away with the need of disclosing 12-digit Aadhaar number for authentication or verification purposes. UIDAI had stated that all authorised agency/service providers will have to compulsory accept VID for undertaking authentication from June 1, 2018.

India – Japan – United States 9th Trilateral Meeting at Joint Secretary/Director General/Assistant Secretary level was held in New Delhi on April 4, 2018. During the course of this meeting, the officials discussed practical steps to enhance cooperation in the areas of counter-proliferation; connectivity and infrastructure development, counter-terrorism; humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, maritime security and maritime domain awareness. Outcomes of the Trilateral Infrastructure Working Group that met in Washington, US in February 2018 were also reviewed. It is to be noted that the India-Japan-US trilateral was launched in December 2011 during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as US Secretary of State.

On April 3, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched construction of Turkey’s first ever nuclear plant on the Mediterranean coast at Akkuyu. Turkey’s first-ever nuclear plant is being built by Russia’s nuclear energy agency, Rosatom. Estimated cost for building this plant is $20 billion. First stage is likely to become operational in 2023, coinciding with 100th anniversary of foundation of Republic of Turkey, while the entire project will be completed in 2026. It is expected that after all reactors of this plant become operational, it will fulfill 10 percent of Turkey’s energy needs.

Jio Payments Bank Limited has commenced operations as a payments bank with effect from April 3, 2018. Jio Payments Bank is a 70:30 joint venture between Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and the State Bank of India (SBI). H. Srikrishnan, who was earlier with HDFC Bank and Yes Bank, has been appointed as MD and CEO of Jio Payments Bank. Payment Bank are special category banks, which have been approved by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to promote financial inclusion. It undertakes restricted banking activities. Currently it is permitted to accept deposits up to Rs. 1 lakh and is not permitted to offer loans. In November 2016, Airtel Payment Bank became the first entity to commence operations as Payments Bank. Paytm Payments Bank and Fino Payments Bank commenced operations in 2017. India Post Payments Bank, which also got a license for a payment bank is yet to start its full-fledged operations in a formal way.

On April 4, 2018, IndusInd Bank announced that it has launched a pilot WhatsApp enterprise solution to communicate with its customers. IndusInd Bank’s message service on WhatsApp is being rolled out to customers in phases, wherein customers can save the official WhatsApp number of the bank and initiate conversation. There will be a two-way communication with replies to customer messages seeking basic banking services. The customers of IndusInd Bank will now be able to check balance, obtain mini statement, check reward points as well as update of Aadhaar through WhatsApp.

IndusInd Bank has received Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) approval to buy IL&FS Securities Services Ltd. (ISSL), the securities services arm of IL&FS. In March 2017, IndusInd bank entered into an agreement with Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) to acquire 100 per cent stake in ISSL. IL&FS is the promoter shareholder of IL&FS Securities Services Ltd (ISSL). Incorporated in July 2006, ISSL is a capital markets intermediary for professional clearing, depository and custodial services catering to both retail and institutional clients including over 1000 brokers, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) and Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIS). The deal value has yet not been disclosed.

SoftBank Group Corp of Japan has planned to launch a $930 million Indian joint solar energy venture with GCL System Integration Technology Co, a Chinese firm, as part of its India solar investment roadmap. This joint venture will work on photovoltaic technology that is used in solar panels. Technology support will be provided by GCL and SoftBank will help in obtaining land and regulatory approvals. In 2015, SoftBank said that it would invest up to $20 billion along with Foxconn Technology and Bharti Enterprises in solar projects in India with an aim to attain a capacity up to 20 gigawatts (GW). The joint venture between SoftBank and GCL will have a capacity of 4GW. It will be implemented in two 2GW phases. SoftBank will own 60 percent of the joint venture’s shares and GCL will own 40 percent. The project will be funded by SoftBank’s Vision Fund.

Study Khazana, an e-portal, was awarded “For best emerging online Education Portal in North India” at the ‘World Education Summit and Award 2018’ at New Delhi. Actress Sharmila Tagore presented the award to Sana Baqai, the Founder of Study Khazana. Study Khazana helps education-deprived aspirants get access to quality education irrespective of geographical boundaries and it encourages open knowledge movement.

On 3rd April 2018, Himanta Biswa Sarma was elected as the President of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) for the next 4 years. Himanta Biswa Sarma is a Cabinet Minister in Assam. He took charge as the interim President of BAI in 2017 following the death of former BAI president Akhilesh Das Gupta. He was elected as president of the BAI unopposed at its annual general body meeting and election in Goa on 3rd April 2018. Former Tamil Nadu Badminton Association president and Lok Sabha MP from Dharmapuri constituency, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss was elected as the treasurer uncontested. Ajay Singhania of Haryana Badminton Association was elected as General Secretary of BAI. Maharashtra Badminton Association President, Arun Lakhani, was elected as the Senior Vice-President unopposed. Omar Rashid, Secretary of Assam Badminton Association was elected unopposed as the Secretary (events).

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Hubble Space Telescope has discovered ‘Icarus’, the farthest individual star ever seen. The star has been named Icarus after the Greek mythological character who flew very close to the Sun with wings of feathers and wax that melted. Official name of Icarus is MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1. It is a huge blue stellar body. Its light has taken nine billion years to reach Earth. Astronomers found Icarus through a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. Gravitational lensing amplifies the glow of the star to a great extent. Generally gravitational lensing occurs when gravitational forces from cluster of galaxies act as natural lens in space, which bends and amplifies light. In the case of Icarus, a galaxy cluster named MACS J1149+2223 developed a natural magnifying glass. This cluster of galaxies is located around 5 billion light-years from Earth. It is present between the Earth and the galaxy that houses Icarus. Astronomers see Icarus using the strength of this gravitational lens along with the resolution and sensitivity of Hubble’s Space Telescope.

On 4th April 2018, the 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games started at Carrara Stadium in Gold Coast, Australia. The Commonwealth Games 2018 will see participation from more than 4,500 athletes from 71 countries. 275 gold medals in 23 events are in store for the competitors. The Commonwealth Games 2018 will be held till 15 April 2018. For the first time in the Commonwealth Games there will be equal number of men’s and women’s medal events. The Indian contingent consists of 227 athletes. PV Sindhu is the flag-bearer for India at the opening ceremony. The Indian team consists of star players like Sushil Kumar, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal and Gagan Narang. The Commonwealth Games is hosted by Australia for the fifth time. This will be the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever with estimated cost around AUS$2billion.

On 4th April 2018, International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action was observed all over the world. When: In 2005, the UN General Assembly declared 4th April as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. This day is observed to create awareness about the threat of mines, unexploded grenades and other explosive hazards that prevents the return of normalcy in areas affected by armed conflicts. Theme: The theme for International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action 2018 is: Advancing Protection, Peace and Development.

On 3rd April 2018, the 254th raising day of the Army Medical Corps was celebrated by all the Army medical units of India. In 1612 during the formation of the East India Company, John Woodall was appointed as the first Surgeon General of the company. As the company expanded, the Bengal Medical Service, the Madras Medical Service, and the Bombay Medical Service were formed later, for the Presidency Armies of Bengal, Madras and Bombay respectively. In 1886 the three medical services were combined into one entity named “Indian Medical Services”. In 1943 it was renamed as The “Indian Army Medical Corps”. Again on 26 January 1950 it was renamed as “Army Medical Corps” (AMC). The AMC has served in all wars and Operations including the Kargil war. The Corps has been honoured with 1 Ashok Chakra, 3 Mahavir Chakras, 3 Kirti Chakras, 22 Vir Chakras, 9 Shaurya Chakras, 96 Param Vishisht Seva Medals, 185 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, 08 Yudh Seva Medals, 127 Sena Medals and 492 Vishisht Seva Medals. It has also received 4 Padma Bhushan and 4 Padma Shri awards.

As per data released by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), subscriber base of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) stood at 97.05 lakh at the end of the financial year 2017-18. Atal Pension Yojana is a guaranteed pension scheme (mainly catering to the unorganised sector employees), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 9, 2015. It became operational from June 1, 2015. It is administered by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). All Indian citizens in the age group of 18-40 years are eligible to subscribe for this scheme. Depending on the age at entry and amount of contribution, every subscriber will get a guaranteed pension in the range of Rs. 1000 – Rs. 5000 per month after he/she attains the age of 60 years. The scheme is being executed across the country through APY service providers comprising Public Sector Banks, Private Banks, Regional Rural Banks, District Cooperative Banks, State Cooperative Banks, Urban Cooperative Banks, Department of Posts and one foreign bank.
Growth in Number of APY Subscribers:
Although the subscriber base of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) stood at 97.05 lakh at the end of the financial year 2017-18, it is slightly lower than the target of 1 crore set by PFRDA. There was an addition of over 48.21 lakh APY subscribers in 2017-18. PFRDA, the administrator of APY, has taken various initiatives for the expansion of outreach and ease the operations under the APY. Subscribers have been given online access to their statement of transaction (e-SOT) and Permanent Retirement Account Number (e-PRAN). Besides, a mobile application has also been introduced, through which, customers can view their account details.

On April 3, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh each to the next of the kin of 39 Indians who were killed in Iraq. 39 of the 40 Indian labourers were killed by Islamic State terrorists in Iraq, while one of them managed to escape. Mortal remains of 38 of these 39 Indians were brought back to India on April 2, 2018 in a special aircraft and handed over to their relatives. 27 hailed from Punjab, 6 from Bihar, 4 from Himachal Pradesh and 2 from West Bengal.

On April 2, 2018, Indian Government imposed a 10 per cent duty on import of key smartphone components with a view to boost domestic manufacturing. Components on which 10 per cent import duty has been imposed are printed circuit board assembly, loaded or stuffed printed circuit boards (for telephones as well as mobile phones), camera module and connectors of cellular mobile phones. So far, these three components were exempted from basic customs duty (BCD). Indian Government has already imposed 15 per cent import duty on chargers, battery, speaker, microphone, headset, keypad etc. under phased manufacturing programme (PMP) aimed at boosting indigenous production of mobile phones, by providing tax relief and other incentives on components and accessories used for the devices. In context of these news, it is important to note that India has replaced Vietnam to become the second largest producer of mobile phones in 2017.

As per data released by Union Commerce and Industry Ministry, Core Sector recorded 5.3% growth in February 2018 on account of a steep rise in output of cement and fertilisers. Coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity are together referred to as core industries. The core industries constitute 40.27% of the total industrial production in India. Cement output in February 2018 grew by 22.9% as compared to 19.6% in January 2018, while fertiliser production increased by 5.3% as compared to 1.6% decline in January 2018. During February 2018, Petroleum refinery production surged 7.8%, Electricity generation grew 4% while Coal and steel production grew 1.4% and 5% respectively.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru has been named the overall best institution in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of HRD (Human Resource Development) ministry. On 3rd April 2018, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar announced the rankings at an event in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. In the university category, IISc secured the top spot. It was followed by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in the second position and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in the third spot.
Other top institutions as per the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF):
• Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) – best engineering college
• Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) – best management institution
• Delhi University’s Miranda House – best college
• AIIMS (All India Institutes of Medical Sciences) – best medical college
• NLSIU (National Law School of India University), Bengaluru – best law school in India

Ministry of Tourism along with Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has launched “Adopt a Heritage Project”. Adopt a Heritage Project aims to provide world class tourist facilities at the natural/cultural heritage sites. Main focus of the project will be to provide basic facilities like cleanliness, public convenience, drinking water, ease of access for tourists, signage etc. and advanced facilities like Souvenir shop, Cafeteria etc. The project envisions that selected public sector companies, private sector companies and individuals will create tourist facilities at heritage sites. Those entities will be named ‘Monument Mitra’. They will adopt the sites under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. They will manage operations and maintenance of the adopted site initially for 5 years. The work will be reviewed at any time. The project was launched by the President on 27th September 2017 (World Tourism Day). Information regarding this was revealed by K. J. Alphons, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism in Lok Sabha on 2nd April 2018.

On April 3, 2018, Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Suresh Prabhu launched digital initiatives by Export Inspection Council (EIC) for ease of export at New Delhi. EIC is the official export certification body of Government of India. Three online portals have been developed in line with Digital India initiative to make it easier to export farm products from India and reduce transaction costs. Entire export food chain has been integrated with these platforms by linking primary production, aquaculture pond, dairy farms and apiaries. The One lab one assessment portal brings together all stakeholders like accreditation bodies, regulators and laboratories on a single platforms and thus provides simplified procedures for granting joint certification and joint decisions which will help in reducing cost, time and multiplicity of assessment. The Export Alert Monitoring portal monitors non compliances raised by importing countries. It will enable monitoring of alerts and action taken by multiple organizations involved in initial certification in the food safety & biosecurity.

Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharama is on an official visit to Russia from 3rd – 5th April, 2018. This will be Nirmala Sitharaman’s first visit to Russia in her capacity as India’s Defence Minister. Main purpose of this visit is to attend the seventh Moscow Conference on International Security. During the course if this visit, Ms. Sitharaman will also meet her Russian counterpart, Army General Sergei Shoigu, and other senior leaders. This visit will reinforce India-Russia bilateral relation with particular reference to military technical cooperation.

On April 3, 2018, Indian Army and HDFC Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Defence Salary Package. The first MoU between HDFC Bank and the Indian Army for Defence Salary Package was signed in 2011 and was renewed in March 2015. The current MoU is tailor made to suit the requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners and families. As per the terms of the current MoU, in addition to other benefits, the Army personnel having accounts in HDFC Bank will get free personal accident death cover and free permanent disability cover of Rs 30 lakhs, free educational cover of upto Rs 1 Lakh per year for four years for education of dependent child in case of accidental death of defence personnel and 100% processing fees waived for Car Loans and Personal Loans.

During the month of March 2018, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) entered into 16 more Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs), taking the total number of APAs to 219 so far. Out of the 16 APAs signed in March 2018, 14 are unilateral APAs and 2 are bilateral APAs with US and pertain to sectors like telecom, IT, automobile, pharmaceutical, beverage, banking and insurance. Out of all APAs entered into by the CBDT till date, 199 are Unilateral APAs and 20 are Bilateral APAs. In financial year 2017-18, CBDT entered into 67 APAs so far, out of which, 58 are Unilateral and 9 are Bilateral. APA provisions were introduced in the Income-tax Act, 1961 in 2012. Objective of APA scheme is to provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and thereby reducing litigation.

On April 3, 2018, Rubique, an online marketplace for loan, credit card and insurance announced the appointment of Ajay Desai as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). Ajay Desai has 20+ years experience in banking sector. Until recently he was holding the position of Senior President and Chief Financial Inclusion Officer in Yes Bank. Rubique has taken Ajay Desai onboard to leverage his exceptional expertise in Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), financial exclusion and Financial Technology (Fintech). At Rubique, Ajay Desai will focus on deployment of technology interventions/solutions to address the credit gap.

On April 3, 2018, SBI Life Insurance Company Limited appointed Sanjeev Nautiyal as its new MD and CEO. Nautiyal started his career with State Bank of India (SBI) in 1985 as a probationary officer. During the course of this career with SBI, Nautiyal held various important roles and responsibilities in areas of credit, human resources, and international banking. Immediately before being appointed as MD & CEO of SBI Life Insurance, he was chief general manager at SBI’s Ahmedabad circle. Sanjeev Nautiyal replaces Arijit Basu as MD & CEO of SBI Life Insurance. Arijit Basu will be taking over a key role in the State Bank of India Group.

On 2nd April 2018, actor Rituparna Sengupta was appointed the chairperson of Shilpi Sansad. Rituparna Sengupta replaces Supriya Devi. Supriya Devi passed away recently. Shilpi Sansad was set up by Uttam Kumar in 1968. It offers financial security to retired and experienced artistes of Bengali film industry. It provides financial assistance to artistes in times of emergency and for medical treatments.

On 2nd April 2018, Debjani Ghosh took charge as the President of NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies). Debjani Ghosh replaces R Chandrashekhar. R Chandrashekhar has completed his five-year term as head of NASSCOM. Debjani Ghosh is the former Managing Director of Intel South Asia. She was the first woman to lead Intel India and MAIT (Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology).

On 3rd April 2018, Subrata Bhattacharjee was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Serbia. Subrata Bhattacharjee is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of 1989 batch. He is Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs at present. He has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Serbia. He will take up this assignment soon.

On 3rd April 2018, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Aashish Kapoor has replaced Venkatesh Prasad in the three-member All-India Junior Selection Committee. Other two members of the All-India Junior Selection Committee are Gyanendra Pandey and Rakesh Parikh. Aashish Kapoor is a former off-spinner in the Indian cricket team. He had represented India in four Tests and 17 ODIs. He had also been a part of 128 first-class games and 93 List A matches.

Mangalore International Airport has been named the cleanest airport in India. Mangalore Airport director V V Rao received the award at the 23rd annual day function of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in New Delhi on 1st April 2018. AAI conducted a survey in 53 Indian airports. Mangaluru airport was selected as the cleanest airport in India. AAI officials had inspected the airport terminal, parking area, toilets, commercial stalls, road leading to the airport and customer lounge. Cleanliness management at the Mangaluru airport is handled by Durga Facility Management Services Private Limited.

On 2nd April 2018, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was honoured with the Padma Bhushan Award by President Ram Nath Kovind at an event in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Former Indian Cricket captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni holds the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel of Indian Army. He received the Padma Bhushan Award in his army uniform. Billiards player Pankaj Advani also received the Padma Bhushan award for his extra ordinary achievements.