NATIONAL NEWS

Satellite-Based Tolling

• The Government clarified that no decision has been taken regarding the launch of a satellite-based tolling system from the 1st of May.
• To enable seamless, barrier-free movement of vehicles through toll plazas and to reduce travel time, an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) -FASTag-based Barrier-Less Tolling System will be implemented at selected toll plazas.

FASTag

Radar speed measurement

• To strengthen road safety and ensure fairness in traffic enforcement, the Department of Consumer Affairs has notified rules for ‘Radar equipment for the measurement of the speed of vehicles’ under the Legal Metrology (General) Rules, 2011.
• These rules will come into force from 1st July 2025, providing sufficient time for industries and enforcement agencies to comply with the provisions.

Data Users Conference

• The National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Government of India, in line with its continued efforts to strengthen engagement with data users and other stakeholders, is organizing a Data Users Conference in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, at the IGIDR campus, Goregaon (East), Mumbai.

National Statistics Office

STATE SPECIAL NEWS

Village-level antiquities survey by Karnataka

• Karnataka will start village-level survey for documentation of antiquities in an initiative that is reckoned to be the first-of-its-kind in the country.

Karnataka

Telangana signs MoU to set up AI data centre cluster

• Japan based global digital transformation and IT services company, NTT DATA, cloud platform company Neysa Networks, and the Telangana government have signed an agreement to set up an Artificial Intelligence data centre cluster in Hyderabad with an investment of 10 thousand 500 crore rupees.

Telangana

Marathwada - Atmanirbhar Bharat Ki Raksha Bhoomi

• ‘Marathwada – Atmanirbhar Bharat Ki Raksha Bhoomi’ dialogue session was organised by the Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA) at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

15th meeting of BRICS Agriculture Ministers

• 15th meeting of BRICS Agriculture Ministers held in Brasilia, Brazil and India was represented by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
• BRICS Agriculture Ministers launched the BRICS Land Restoration Partnership to address land degradation, desertification, and the loss of soil fertility.

BRICS

Italian PM’s Meloni’s visit to US

• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and US President Donald Trump in their first official meeting held in Washington said that US and Italy will work together to develop the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) connecting partners by ports, railways, and undersea cables and stimulating economic development.
• IMEC was formalised by MoU signed between India, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, UAE and the United States at the G20 Summit in New Delhi on 9th September 2023.

Italy :

Pakistan-Bangladesh Foreign Office Consultation

• Pakistan-Bangladesh Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) held in Dhaka after 15 years.

Bangladesh

Legal definition of a woman

• The United Kingdom’s (U.K.) Supreme Court unanimously ruled that only biological women and not transwomen meet the definition of a woman under equality laws.

United Kingdom’s (U.K.)

ECONOMY & BANKING

India-US at WTO

• The United States told the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that its tariffs on steel and aluminium are based on national security concerns and are justified under the national security exception in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, not safeguard measures as India claims.
• India filed a request with the WTO on the 11th of this month, seeking consultations over the U.S. tariffs, arguing that they should be treated as safeguard measures under WTO rules.

GATT

India’s Forex Reserves Rised

• According to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India, India's foreign exchange reserves rose by 1.56 billion dollars, reaching over 677.8 billion dollars in the week ending April 11.
• Central Bank’s position in the International Monetary Fund was up by 43 million dollars, reaching 4.5 billion dollars, while Special Drawing Rights declined by 6 million dollars, reaching 18.35 billion dollars.

Forex Reserves of India

Export of pomegranates to USA

• Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) facilitated First Commercial Sea shipment of Indian pomegranates (Bhagwa variety) from Maharashtra (Ahilyanagar) to USA.

APEDA

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Liver Day

• World Liver Day is observed annually on April 19th to raise awareness about liver diseases and promote healthy lifestyles to prevent them.
• The theme for World Liver Day 2025 is "Food is Medicine," highlighting the importance of diet in maintaining liver health.

Bicycle Day

• Bicycle Day is an unofficial celebration on April 19th of the psychedelic revolution and the first psychedelic trip on LSD by Dr. Albert Hofmann in 1943.

PERSON IN NEWS

Captain Shubhanshu Shukla

• IAF’s Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) next month as part of an Axiom Space mission, Ax-4.

International Space Station

Mathew Samuel Kalarickal

• Eminent cardiologist Mathew Samuel Kalarickal, recognised as the ‘Father of Angioplasty’ in India, passed away at age of 77.

DEFENCE NEWS

Tri-services Future Warfare Course

• The second edition of the Tri-services Future Warfare Course will be held at Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi from April 21 to May 09, 2025.
• The course is being conducted under the aegis of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff and coordinated by the Tri-services think-tank, Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS).

ART & CULTURE

Char Dham Yatra 2025

• According to the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), The Yamunotri Dham is scheduled to open on April 30, along with Gangotri Dham and the doors of Shri Kedarnath Dham will reopen on May 2, and Shri Badrinath Dham on May 4.

ENVIRONMENT + SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Paste Fill Technology for Mining

• South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) became the first coal PSU in India to adopt paste fill technology for coal mining—marking a major step toward sustainable and environmentally friendly mining practices.

Paste Fill Technology

Shifting of 2 cheetahs

• Two cheetahs will be moved from Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park to the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary.

APPOINTMENTS

The Centre appointed Secretaries in different Ministries and Departments

SPORTS

Asian U18 Athletics Championships

• India’s Himanshu Jakhar made history by winning the country’s first-ever Asian U18 Athletics Championships gold in the men’s javelin throw in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
• Nishchay won silver medal in the boys’ shot put event.

Asian U-15 & U-17 Boxing Championships

• Asian U-15 & U-17 Boxing Championships will be hosted by Amman, Jordan which will be organised by Asian Boxing, endorsed by both the Olympic Council of Asia and the newly formed World Boxing.
• India is fielded a 56-member squad for this event.