NATIONAL NEWS
India 17th in global startup ecosystem, up from 37: Report
India rose to 17th position in global startup ecosystem in 2019, up from the 37th spot in 2017, as per StartupBlink. The country list was topped by the US, followed by the UK and Canada. Notably, India was ranked above 27th-placed China.
- In cities ranking, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune also made it to the top 100.
India rebuilds Chhyoiphel Kundeling monastery in Nepal
India has rebuilt Chhyoiphel Kundeling Monastery in Nepal. Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche inaugurated newly reconstructed Monastery at Lisankhu village in Sindhupalchok district. Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India Dr. Ajay Kumar was also present on the occasion.
- The Monastery has been reconstructed with Government of India grant of 18.9 million Nepalese rupees. The Chhyoiphel Kundeling Monastery was established in 1946 with the active initiation and contribution of Lisankhu villagers.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Volodymyr Zelenskiy wins Ukraine Presidential Elections
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has won a major victory over incumbent Petro Poroshenko. The comedian plays the role of president in a fictional television sitcom. Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy won Ukraine's presidential election by a substantial margin.
- Zelenskiy's victory puts the anti-establishment figure at the forefront of the West's standoff with Russia, after its annexation of Crimea and its support for insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
- Extra info.:
Ukraine Capital: Kyiv
Currency: Ukrainian hryvnia
Asian Tea Alliance Launched In China
Asian Tea Alliance (ATA), a union of five tea-growing and consuming countries was launched in Guizhou, China. Its members are major associations from key tea producing Asian countries viz. Indian Tea Association (ITA), China Tea Marketing Association (CRMA), Indonesian Tea Marketing Association (ITMA), Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) and Japan Tea Association (JTA).
- Its mandate is to enhance tea trade, cultural exchanges, technology exchanges as well as globally promoting tea. It will also work towards enhancing global consumption of tea, while creating a sustainability agenda for the future of Asian tea.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
India Post partners TCS to modernize its services
India Post has partnered with IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to become a multi-service digital hub, modernize the delivery of mail and packages, enhance customer experience and launch innovative services.
- TCS has implemented its Point of Sale (PoS) solution across 24,000 post offices with over 80,000 PoS terminals, making this among the largest such implementations in the world.
Reliance Retail Became India’s First Retail Company To Cross The Rs.1 Lakh Crore Annual Revenue
Reliance retail has become the first Indian retail company to clock more than Rs 1 lakh crore in annual revenues. The retail venture of Reliance Industries reported an income of Rs 1,30,556 crore for 2018-19, 89% more than the previous year’s Rs 69,198 crore.
- It reported Rs 6,201 crore as profit before depreciation, interest and taxes (PBDIT) for the year against Rs 2,529 crore in FY18, an increase of 145%.
SPORTS
Services lift Santosh Trophy; beat Punjab 1-nil in final
In Football, the Services lifted the Santosh Trophy, beating Punjab 1-nil in the final at Ludhiana. In the first half, both the teams were goal-less. In the second half, Services scored the lone goal and held on till the final whistle.
- In the semi-finals earlier, eight-time champions Punjab had defeated five-time winners Goa 2-1 to enter their 15th final. Services beat Karnataka 4-3 in the semis via a penalty shootout to book a place in the title clash for the 11th time.
APPOINTMENTS
Twitter appoints Manish Maheshwari as India MD
Twitter India appointed Manish Maheshwari, ex-CEO of Network18 Digital, as the Managing Director for its India operations. Maheshwari will be responsible for driving an integrated business strategy to accelerate Twitter's audience and revenue growth in the country.
- Prior to Network18, Maheshwari held various positions at Flipkart, txtWeb, Intuit, McKinsey and P&G.
Dubai based 'RAKEZ' appointed Cricket Champion Ravi Shastri as a Corporate Ambassador
Former Cricketer Ravi Shastri appointed as Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) exclusive Corporate Ambassador to the Indian Business Community. As brand Ambassador Ravi Shastri may attract more Indian business leaders to set up or expand their operations in UAE through RAKEZ.
- This first-of-its-kind approach is one of the many other initiatives that RAKEZ will be launching in the future to attract more investors from all over the world and boost the economic growth of Ras Al Khaimah.
AWARDS
Malayalam film Bhayanakam wins best cinematography at 2019 Beijing International Film Festival
Malayalam film Bhayanakam (Fear) directed by Jayaraj won the best cinematography award at the Beijing International Film Festival. The cinematography was done by Nikihil S Praveen.
- The film had also won the best cinematography award at the 65th National Film Awards. Both Jayaraj and lead actor, writer and journalist Renji Panicker who attended the festival received the award.
Sunil Kumar Gautam Bestowed With ‘Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Award’
Sunil Kumar Gautam, Special Commissioner of Police (Operations) was honoured with ‘Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Award‘ for his book titled ‘Samvidhan Kavya‘.
- He was awarded by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The book presents the provisions of the Constitution in a simple and poetic form.
Cipla chairman Hamied receives UK Royal Society honour
Prominent scientist and businessman Yusuf Hamied is among a host of Indian-origin experts honoured in the 2019 list of new fellows of the UK's Royal Society. The 82-year-old chairman of pharmaceutical major Cipla has been made an Honorary Fellow of the prestigious body, comprising of many of the world's most eminent scientists.
- The Royal Society is an independent scientific academy of the UK and the Commonwealth, dedicated to promoting excellence in science.
OBITUARIES
Lorraine Warren, A Paranormal Investigator Passes Away
Real-life ghostbuster Lorraine Warren who inspired The Amityville Horror and The Conjuring movies passed away at the age of 92. She and husband Ed Warren are famous supernatural investigators.
- Their most famous cases include the Amityville horror house in 1976, the Annabelle Raggedy Ann doll in 1968, and the haunted Perron family in 1971.
IMPORTANT DAYS
Earth Day
The world celebrates Earth Day and Google has introduced an interactive doodle that celebrates the uniqueness, diversity and wonder of a small fraction of life forms found on earth. World Earth Day, which is celebrated on 22 April every year, now includes events in more than 193 countries.
- For the year 2019, the Earth Day theme is 'Protect our Species'.
World Creativity And Innovation Day
Every year World Creativity and Innovation Day (WCID) is officially celebrated on April 21. WCID is a part of the United Nations resolution entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development."
- It is celebrated to raise awareness of the role of creativity and innovation in "problem-solving and by extension, in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals."
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