National
Export Excellence Awards 2017-2021
⇒ Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal addressed the ‘Export Excellence Awards 2017-2021’ of apex plastics industry trade body The Plastics Export Promotion Council (PLEXCONCIL) in Mumbai on 16 April 2022.
Addressing the event, shri Goyal exhorted the Indian Plastic Industry to take the sector from the current level of around Rs.3 lakh crores of economic activity to Rs.10 lakh crores in around 4-5 years.
Lifetime Achievement Award:
Chairman Emeritus of Nilkamal Limited, Vamanrai V. Parekh, received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
- 95 companies and organisations were honoured with Export Excellence Awards.
Host:
PLEXCONCIL, India’s apex trade body of plastics industry, hosted its Export Excellence Awards after a gap of two years due to the pandemic situation.
40th edition of the 'Hunar Haat'
⇒ The 40th edition of the ‘Hunar Haat, a credible and consummate platform to preserve, protect, promote ‘Swadeshi’ products was held at MMRDA Ground, Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai from 16th to 27th April, 2022.
Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Anurag Thakur inaugurated the 40th edition of the ‘Hunar Haat’ in the presence of Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, in Mumbai on 17 April 2022.
In this 40th edition of Hunar Haat, 400 stalls were put up by more than one thousand craftsmen and artisans from 31 states.
- Artisans and craftsmen from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Goa, Punjab, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu-Kashmir, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other places of the country displayed indigenous products at the Mumbai ‘Hunar Haat’.
- People visited the 12-day ‘Hunar Haat’ and also enjoyed various musical and cultural programmes of renowned artistes.
29th Chief of the Army Staff
⇒ Lt Gen Manoj C Pande took over as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff on 30 April 2022 from General Manoj Mukund Naravane, who superannuated after four decades of an illustrious career.
Lt Gen Manoj C Pande was commissioned on December 24, 1982 in the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers) of the Indian Army. The General officer is alumnus of the National Defence Academy.
Vice Chief of the Army Staff
⇒ Lieutenant General Baggavalli Somashekar Raju took over as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff on 01 May 2022.
An alumnus of Sainik School Bijapur and National Defence Academy, he was commissioned in the JAT Regiment on 15th December 1984.
International
4th India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue
⇒ Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh visited the United States of America between April 11-14, 2022.
The Raksha Mantri along with External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar participated in the 4th India-USA 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue on April 11, 2022 in Washington DC.
Secretary of State Mr Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Mr Lloyd Austin represented the United States.
Read More About 4th India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue
Important Day
World Heritage Day 2022
⇒ World Heritage Day is observed every year on 18 April.
The World Heritage Day is also known as the International Day for Monuments and Sites and is meant to create awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage.
Theme:
The theme for World Heritage Day 2022 was “Heritage and Climate”.
History:
- In 1982, The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) proposed that April 18 should be observed as the World Heritage Day.
- Later, the date was approved by UNSECO at the 22nd General Conference in 1983. The Day is promoted by ICOMOS globally.
Significance:
The day is celebrated to spread awareness about preserving the history, diversity, and vulnerability of world heritage sites and monuments.
World heritage sites in India:
- At present India is a member of the “World Heritage Committee” of UNESCO.
- There are 40 world heritage sites in India out of which 32 are cultural, 7 are natural sites and 1 mixed category.
- Out of these, 24 monuments and archaeological sites are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Death
Eminent Odia musician and singer, Prafulla Kar
⇒ Eminent Odia musician and singer Prafulla Kar passed away on 17 April 2022 in Bhubaneswar. He was 83.
Kar made his debut as a singer in 1962 with Odia film ‘Shri Shri Patita Pabana’. Some of the movies in which he composed music are Mamata, Batighara, Shesha Shrabana, Sindura Bindu, Bandhu Mahanti, etc.
Kar is the only Odia music director who was awarded Best Music Director in Odisha State Film Awards for a record six times. In 2004, he was awarded the prestigious Jaydev Puraskar for his contribution to Odia cinema. He was honored with the Padma Shri award in the year 2015 in the field of art.