National
1st Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar Award
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi attended the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Awards Ceremony in Mumbai on 24 April 2022.
- On this occasion, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was conferred 1st Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar Award.
About Award:
- This award has been instituted in memory of Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar. Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan Charitable Trust has instituted the award.
- It will be given every year exclusively to one individual for exemplary contribution towards nation building.
Public Relations Awards 2022
⇒ The National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd (NMDC), sweeped the Public Relations Awards 2022 conferred by Public Relations Society of India (PRSI), winning the first position in four categories.
- The mining major was conferred with this honour for their Corporate Website, Annual Report, Layout and Design of Newsletter, and CSR Corporate Video.
Chief Guest, Telangana Minister of Prohibition & Excise, Sports & Youth Services, Tourism & Culture, Shri V Srinivas Goud presented the award to NMDC’s Shri Praveen Kumar, ED (Personnel) and Shri Ch. Srinivasa Rao, DGM (Corporate Communications) received the awards on behalf of the Navratna PSU.
Tree Cities of the World 2021
⇒ The Arbor Day Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations have jointly recognized Mumbai and Hyderabad as ‘Tree Cities of the World-2021′.
- Mumbai has made it to the list for the first time. Hyderabad finds a place on the list for the second year in a row.
- The two Indian cities have won the recognition for their “commitment to growing and maintaining urban trees and greenery in building healthy, resilient and happy cities”.
» A total of 136 other cities from 21 countries are part of the premium listing. The US has 37 cities on the list while the UK has 19 and Canada 18, showing that developed countries have a higher share of green cities.
International
105th Meeting of the Development Committee Plenary in Washington D.C.
⇒ Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 105th Meeting of the Development Committee Plenary in Washington D.C. on 23 April 2022.
Agenda:
The items on the agenda included Digitalisation & Development, Making Debt Work for Development & Macroeconomic Stability and World Bank Group’s Response to Global Impacts of the War in Ukraine: A Proposed Roadmap.
- The finance minister underlined that India voluntarily offered COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) platform to all countries and stand willing to provide assistance for other public-goods platforms recognizing the importance of replication of proven and scalable digital platforms.
Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman also met with World Bank Group President Mr. David Malpass in Washington D.C.
They discussed various issues, including India’s continued recovery from COVID-19 pandemic; impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the world economy and India in particular; economy and role of the WBG; Single Borrower Limit and exploring the possibility of Guarantees from other nations, India’s G20 Presidency and World Bank’s leadership in India after CD’s (Country Director) departure.
- Smt Sitharaman highlighted the India’s roadmap for infrastructure development and look forward to World Bank’s continued support for financing investments for the National Infrastructure pipeline and Gati Shakti programme.
Pakistan’s ballistic missile Shaheen-III
⇒ Pakistan’s Army conducted a successful flight test of the surface-to-surface medium-range ballistic missile Shaheen-III on 09 April 2022.
It can strike targets up to 2,750 kilometres. It is solid-fuelled and equipped with the Post-Separation Altitude Correction (PSAC) system. The missile was first tested in March 2015.
Sports
2022 Australian Grand Prix Formula 1 Race
⇒ The 2022 Australian Grand Prix Formula 1 race took place at the 5.278-kilometre Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on 10 April 2022.
Winner:
Ferrari Driver, Charles Leclerc won 2022 Australian Grand Prix (Formula 1 Heineken Australian Grand Prix 2022).
Death
Noted Odia language writer, Binapani Mohanty
⇒ Noted Odia language writer, Binapani Mohanty passed away on 24 April 2022 in Cuttack. She was 85.
Mohanty has more than 100 books to her credit. She is well-known for ‘Patadei’, ‘Kasturi Mriga O Sabuja Aranya’, ‘Khela Ghara’, ‘Naiku Rasta’, ‘Bastraharana’, ‘Andhakarara’.
Mohanty has received Padma Shri award for arts and literature in 2022. She also received the Atibadi Jagannath Das Sammana by Odisha Sahitya Akademi, the highest literary award of the state in 2020. Besides, she has received many awards like Sahitya Akademi Award and Sarala samman.
She also served as chairperson of Odisha Lekhika Sansad, an organisation of Odia women writers.