” Notes:hdfc bank makes history as the first private bank to establish a branch in india’s lakshadweep, specifically at kavaratti island. previously, only government banks operated in the region. the move aims to enhance banking infrastructure and provide personalized and digital services, with a focus on personal and digital banking. notably, hdfc plans to introduce unique qr-based transactions for retailers, potentially revolutionizing banking in the island territory.”

” Notes:iit bombay climbed to 45th in engineering and technology in the 2024 qs world university rankings, scoring 79.1/100. the qs ranks universities in 55 disciplines; results released by the uk-based agency highlight iit bombay’s strengths in various fields including minerals and mining (25th), data science and ai (30th), civil and structural engineering (42nd), and others. notably, it improved by two places from 2023 in engineering and technology.”

” Notes:close to 100 hectares of forest were recently destroyed by fire in the sulthan bathery forest range within the wayanad wildlife sanctuary (wws), located in wayanad, kerala. established in 1973, the sanctuary spans approximately 344.44 sq. km and is part of the nilgiri biosphere reserve. it shares borders with protected areas in karnataka and tamil nadu. the sanctuary is home to various tribes and boasts diverse flora, including teak, rosewood, eucalyptus, and silver oak.”

Notesjain acharya lokesh muni is the first indian monk to receive the american presidents gold volunteer service award in 2024 he is the founder of the ahimsa vishwa bharati and the world peace centre and is recognized for his contributions

Notes:the asian development bank’s (adb) april 2024 outlook revised india’s gdp growth forecast for fy25 to 7%, up from 6.7%. adb reported india’s 7.6% gdp growth in 2023-24, projecting 7.2% growth in 2025-26. reserve bank of india also forecasts 7% growth for fy25. despite global economic challenges, india is anticipated to lead major economies in fy 2025, fueled by domestic demand, government policies, investments, and export gains in electronics and services.

” Tarun bajaj, former revenue and economic affairs secretary, ministry of finance, government of india, was appointed as the chair of the united states (us)-india tax forum of the united states-india strategic partnership forum (usispf).i. he is also serving as independent director on the board of hindustan unilever limited(hul) since december 2023.ii. he joined as an adviser to the board of directors of usispf in january 2024.”

” On the occasion of the 61st national maritime day (5th april 2024), the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways (mopsw) awarded the sagar samman awards acknowledging exemplary contributions within the maritime sector.i. the award was presented during the event organised by the national maritime day celebrations (nmdc) central committee at yashwantrao chavan centre in nariman point, mumbai, maharashtra.ii. the observance of national maritime day 2024 was centred around the theme “sustainable shipping: opportunities and challenges”[table]categorywinnercontributionsagar samman varun awarddhirendra kumar sanyalhighest honour for outstanding and sustained contributions to the indian maritime sectorsagar samman award for excellencecaptain kamal kant choudharyrecognises consistently excellent contributions to the maritime sectorsagar samman award for gallantrycaptain subir saha andcaptain om duttahonours acts of gallantry by indian seafarers, encouraging emulation of their exemplary conduct.[/table].click here to read more.”

” On april 9, 2024, the world health organisation (who) in its ‘global hepatitis report 2024 -action for access in low- and middle-income countries‘ during the world hepatitis summit (whs) 2024, organised by world hepatitis alliance with the support of the ministry of health of portugal, in lisbon, from april 9–11, 2024, on the theme ‘integrate, accelerate, eliminate’.ii.as per it, there is alarming increase in deaths caused by viral hepatitis, making it the second leading infectious cause of death globally, after tuberculosis (tb). click here to read more.”

” On april 8 2024, during his visit to southern naval command(snc), kochi(kerala), admiral r hari kumar, chief of the naval staff (cns), awarded ‘on the spot unit citation 23-24’ to indian naval ships (ins) sharda for successful conduct of anti piracy operations.i. the ship was involved in the safe release of all 19 crew members (11 iranian and 08 pakistani) of iranian fishing vessel omari which was held hostage by pirates off the east coast of somalia on 2nd february 2024.”

” Simon harris (37 years old), leader of the fine gael party, was elected as the new taoiseach (prime minister of the republic of ireland) by the members of the dáil (irish parliament).i. he received the seal of office from president of ireland michael d higgins and was officially installed as taoiseach on 9th april 2024.ii. he succeeded leo varadkar, who resigned as fine gael leader and taoiseach in march 2024.iii. he is set to hold the post till the general election which is set to be held in march 2025.”

The 2024 central reserve police force valour day also known as shaurya diwas 2024 is observed across india on 9 april 2024 to commemorate the extraordinary valour shown by the crpf soldiers during the battle of sardar post in the rann of kutch gujarat in 1965

” According to the ministry of road transport and highways (morth), a total of 12,349 km of national highways(nhs) were constructed in the financial year 2023–24 (fy24). this is the 2nd highest figure in the history of the construction of national highways.i. the ministry also revealed that it has awarded 8,851 nh projects in fy24.ii. fy21 stands in first place with a length of 13,327km of national highways.iii. the government of india (goi) launched a pilot program in march 2024 to provide cashless treatment to the victims of road accidents due to the use of motor vehicles.”

” On 9th april 2024, the european union(eu) and india launched an expression of interest(eoi) for startups working in electric vehicles(evs) battery recycling to take part in the matchmaking event taking place under the india-eu trade and technology council (ttc).i. this aims to promote cooperation between european and indian small and medium-sized enterprises(smes) start-ups in the clean and green technologies sector.”

” The singapore tourism board (stb), a lead development agency for tourism, singapore, signed a two-year memorandum of understanding (mou) with phonepe to promote unified payments interface (upi) for indians travelling in singapore.i. the mou allows customers to instantly make cross border transactions between india and singapore directly from their existing indian bank accounts.”

” Tata advanced systems limited (tasl), a wholly-owned subsidiary of tata sons, has successfully launched tsat-1a, india’s first private sector-built sub-metre resolution earth observation satellite, into low-earth orbit(leo).i. tsat-1a launched on board the space exploration technologies corporation’s (spacex’s) falcon 9 rocket from the national aeronautics and space administration (nasa) kennedy space center, florida, united states of america(usa) on 7th april 2024.ii. this was one of the 11 satellites launched as a part of the ‘bandwagon-1’ mission, spacex’s first rideshare mission to leo at inclinations of about 45 degrees.”