- National:
- Kerala Government launches ‘One Panchayat, One Playground’ project to establish high-quality playgrounds in every panchayat and foster a robust sports culture in the state. The project was inaugurated by Kerala’s Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, at Kallikkad. The project aims to promote community gatherings, social interactions, and a healthy and active lifestyle among the people of Kerala.
- It is a remarkable achievement by Himachal Pradesh to become the first state in India to create a DNA database of unidentified bodies. The process started in April 2020 and so far records of 150 DNA samples of unidentified bodies have been stored in the database. The database would help in the identification of bodies which would turn out to be a big relief for the families searching for their loved ones and running from pillar to post with photographs and other details.
- MeitY proposed rules for Aadhaar authentication by entities other than Government Ministries and Departments. The rules aim to provide a framework for voluntary use of Aadhaar for identity verification by private entities, subject to certain conditions and safeguards.
- ISRO to launch Singapore’s TeLEOS-2 satellite on 22 April from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The satellite is an Earth Observation Satellite developed by ST Engineering and will provide imagery for various applications such as hotspot monitoring, haze management, air crash search and rescue operations, etc.
- International:
- Miguel Diaz-Canel was re-elected as the president of Cuba for a second term on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. He won a landslide vote of 97.66% of the National Assembly, which is composed of members aligned with the Communist Party or sympathetic to it.
- Banking:
- Emkay Global Financial Services has received in-principle approval from the Investment Management Department of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for sponsoring a Mutual Fund (MF) business and incorporate an Asset Management Company (AMC).
- IndusInd Bank has entered into a USD 100 million long-term loan agreement with JBIC to facilitate the growth of Japanese construction equipment companies in India. The loan will be used to provide credit facilities to the component suppliers, dealers and buyers of the Japanese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India. This is the first of its kind lending by JBIC through any IFSC Banking unit at GIFT City.
- Fasal, an agri-tech company, announced its partnership with State Bank of India (SBI), a public sector bank, to provide farmers with easy access to capital in the form of quick, easy, and collateral-free loans at competitive rates. The loans will be deployed under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme and be initially offered in four Indian states: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. The aim is to enable farmers to use Fasal’s precision farming technology to manage agri-input needs and improve their crop productivity. This initiative is in line with the Indian government’s increased agriculture credit target of INR 20 lakh crore ($267bn) for FY24
- Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global has increased its stake in Bajaj Electricals by 1.73% on 11 August via open market transactions, bringing its total shareholding in the electrical appliances company up to 3.03%. Meanwhile, California-based venture capitalist firm Small Cap World Fund has reduced its stake to 3.36%, down from 5.3%1. Bajaj’s shares rose 3.23% to INR1,077 ($16.80).
- Military Excercise:
- 8th Defense Dialogue between India and Thailand held in Bangkok on 20 April. The two sides discussed ways to enhance bilateral defense cooperation and exchanged views on regional security issues.
- Exercise INIOCHOS-23 is a multi-national air exercise hosted by the Greece Air Force, in which the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be participating. It is one of the three exercises that the IAF will be taking part in simultaneously, along with Exercise Cope India with the U.S. underway at Kalaikunda and a multilateral exercise Orion.
