1. Russia on April 12, 2019, announced that it had honored Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Order of St Andrew the Apostle, the highest order of the Russian Federation, for promoting partnership and friendly relations between the two countries.
2. The Bhutan government has decided to send the bill for ratification of the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal Motor Vehicle Agreement for road and rail connectivity to its upper senate. The BBIN initiative is a big initiative in the region, which is aimed at improving rail and road connectivity in the region. However, only Bangladesh, India and Nepal have implemented the agreement, Bhutan is yet to accord its ratification of the agreement.
3. The Nation Green Tribunal (NGT) has formed a Central Monitoring Committee to prepare and enforce a national plan to make over 350 river stretches across the country pollution free. The committee would comprise a representative of NITI Aayog, secretaries of Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Environment, the director general of National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board.
4. United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host the world’s leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit -AIE from April 30 to May 1, 2019. The summit aims to empower global dialogue on the future of government, business and society. The inaugural ‘AI Everything’, AIE will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
5. Tiger Woods clinched his fifth Masters and a 15th major title on April 14, 2019, ending 11-year wait for a major title after overcoming career-threatening back problems. The 43-year-old Woods finished with a two-under-par 70 to win on 13 under, one clear of fellow Americans Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka.
6. India finished with 5 medals in the Boxing World Cup which concluded at Cologne, Germany on April 13, 2019. While Meena Kumari Maisnam continued her fine run to win gold in the 54 kg, reigning youth world champion Sakshi (57 kg) and India Open champion Pwilao Basumatary (64 kg) settled for the silver. Pinki Rani (51 kg) and Parveen ( 60 kg) won bronze.
7. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on April 13, 2019, sworn in a new government headed by Mohammad Shtayyeh, a long-time ally from his Fatah party. Mohammad Shtayyeh was administered the oath as the new Prime Minister of Palestine in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The new government was formed after former Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah resigned in January 2019.
8. Sudan’s military council has removed defense minister Awad Ibn Auf from his role and appointed a new intelligence chief. With the announcement, Lieutenant General Abu Bakr Mustafa will replace Salah Abdallah Mohamed Saleh, known as Salah Gosh, as chief of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service.
9. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) recently emerged winner in general elections in Finland. With 99.3 percent of the ballots counted, the SDP, headed by former union leader Antti Rinne, obtained 17.7 percent of the votes and 40 seats in Parliament, while the anti-immigration Finns Party, who is also in the opposition – obtained 17.5 percent of the votes and 39 seats.
10. The world’s largest airplane took off for the very first time on April 13, 2019. The American space transportation venture, Stratolaunch has built this aircraft in eight years. After its successful test flight, the company hopes to use the twin-fuselage, six-engine, catamaran-style aircraft to launch satellite-bearing rockets into space by 2022. The plane’s test flight was done at the Mojave Desert in California.
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