UTTARAKHAND

 

• PM to felicitate 8 Uttarakhand panchayats

 

• The ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) has selected eight different levels of panchayats of Uttarakhand for Deen Dayal UpadhyayPanchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar 2018 which will be given out on National Gram Panchayati Raj Diwas on Tuesday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. The awards are based on assessment year 2015-16.

 

• Maximum panchayats of Uttar Pradesh, 36, will be incentivized through awards followed by Maharashtra (18) and Madhya Pradesh (16).

 

• In the Uttarakhand district panchayat category, Pauri Garhwal, has bagged the award and in the intermediate panchayat awards category, Jakhnidhar in Tehri district and Joshimath in Chamoli have won the award. In 2017, Tehri Garhwal was bestowed upon the district panchyat award.

 

• In the best village panchayats category, four villages of Uttarakhand have made it to the list. Two each from Uttarkashi and Dehradun districts — Chinwa and Saransh from Moori block of Uttarkashi and Pawala Soda of Raipur block and Nebi village of Kalsi block in Dehradun — have been selected.

INTERNATIONAL

 

·        Swaziland King Changes Country’s Name To ‘Kingdom Of ESwatini’

 

• Swaziland’s KingMswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch, officially changed the name of his country to the ‘Kingdom of eSwatini’.
• Accordingly, the country, a member of the Commonwealth, will now be known by its historic name of eSwatini.
• The announcement was made during the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the King’s 50th birthday as well as the 50th anniversary of Swazi’s independence from British colonial rule.

 

• World’s oldest person Nabi Tajima passes away at 117

 

• The world’s oldest person, a 117-year-old Japanese woman, has died. Nabi Tajima died of old age in a hospital in southern Japan.

 

ð  Tajima, born on 4 August, 1900, was the last known person born in the 19th century.

• She became the world’s oldest person seven months ago after the death of Violet Brown in Jamaica, also at the age of 117

 

 

NATIONAL

 

• Civil Service Day: 21 April

 

• The Civil Service Day is celebrated on 21 April every year.

 

• The purpose for this day is to rededicate and recommit themselves to the cause of the people.

 

• It is observed by all Civil Services. This day gives civil servants the opportunity for introspection and thinking about future strategies.

 

 

·        India Forms Committee to Reform Higher Defence Planning

 

• The Union Government formed a new integrated institutional mechanism, Defence Planning Committee (DPC)to reform the process of higher defense planning.
• The permanent body would be chaired by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
• The committee is aimed at driving the country’s military and national security strategy, draft capability development plans, and guide and accelerate defense equipment acquisitions.
• The Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman of the Chief of the Staff Committee (CISC)will be the member secretary of the committee.

 

·        SJVN Signs MoU With Ministry Of Power

 

• SJVN Limited signed a MoU with Ministry of Power for the year 2018-19.
• As per the targets set in the MOU, SJVN shall strive to achieve 9200 Million Units generation during the year under ‘Excellent’ category. 
• Further, SJVN will have Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) target of Rs. 900 crore and Turnover target of Rs. 2175 crore under the Excellent category.

 

 

• TCS first Indian company with $100 billion market cap

 

• Tata Consultancy Services has touched $100 billion mark in market capitalisation as its share price surged nearly 7%.

 

• The IT major is the first listed Indian company to achieve this milestone.

 

• TCS is the leading the chart as the most valued firm followed by Reliance Industries Ltd, HDFC Bank, ITC and HUL in the top-five list.

 

·        Union Minister Vijay Goel Launches Central Project Monitoring Unit for E-Vidhan Project

 

• Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goelinaugurated the new office of Central Project Monitoring Unit for the e-Vidhan project of the Government at the Parliament House Annexe.
• This was done as a part of Swachhata Pakhwada being observed by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
• e-Vidhan is a part of the broader Digital India Programme of the Government and is likely to contribute to the cleanliness and environment by reducing the use of papers to a great extent.

 

·        E-SANAD Portal and National Academic Depository Integrated

 

• The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD)launched integration of e-SANAD portal and NAD – National Academic Depository in a bid to make education system in India more transparent.
• e-Sanad is a project aimed at online submission and verification of documents with the ultimate object to extend contactless, cashless, faceless and paperless document attestation service.
• NAD is a 24X7 online storehouse of all academic awards viz. diplomas certificates, degrees, mark-sheets etc.