VINTAGE

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF APRIL 18^th, 2019

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF APRIL 18^th, 2019

1.     (18th April) is International Day for Monuments and Sites.

a.       This day also commonly known as World Heritage Day.

b.      This day was established by UNESCO in the year 1983.

c.       The main aim of this day is to  to raise public awareness about the diversity and vulnerability of the world’s built monuments and heritage sites and the efforts required to protect and conserve them.

d.      Theme of World Heritage Day 2019:  ‘Rural Landscapes’

2.     Navies of India and Vietnam held a 4-day maritime exercise off Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam with an aim to boost operational cooperation.

a.       Indian Navy's war ships Kolkata and iparticipated in the annual exercise, comprising a harbour and a sea phase.

3.     Saudi Arabia is going to host the 15th annual G20 Leaders' Summit in 2020 during 21st and 22nd November 2019, in its capital Riyadh. 

a.       Important Note : This will be the 1st G20 Summit to be hosted in the Arab world. 

4.     Egypt's Parliament today passed amendments to the Constitution extending the president's term in office from 4 to 6 years and allow for a maximum of two terms. 

a.       The amendments would also give the president more power over the judiciary and further increase the military's role in politics. 

5.     The European Parliament today approved a law that aims to give greater protection to Whistleblowers across the European Union (EU). 

a.       The law establishes "safe channels" for whistleblowers to report the information, both within an organisation and to public authorities. 

b.      It also protects whistleblowers from being punished, dismissed or sued.

c.       Whistleblower - a person who informs on a person or organization regarded as engaging in an unlawful or immoral activity.

6.     India's Mahindra & Mahindra has signed a deal with American carmaker Ford Motor's Indian unit to jointly develop midsize Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) in India. 

a.       Ford and affiliate companies will invest ₹680 crore for the development of the vehicles over a period of 10 years. 

b.      The new SUV will have a common Mahindra product platform and powertrain, the companies announced.

7.     The world's tallest indoor waterfall (131-foot-tall), opened for the general public at Singapore's Jewel Changi Airport. 

a.       The waterfall is housed inside a dome-shaped complex which has gardens growing over four storeys, more than 280 retail and food outlets, a hotel and a movie theatre. 

b.      The structure also has a botanical garden with 120 species of plants.

8.     Nepal and Sri Lanka today successfully launched 'NepaliSat-1' and 'Raavana-1', their respective 1st-ever satellites, into space from the US. 

a.       Both the satellites were developed under the 'BIRDS-3 Satellite Project'.

9.     North Korea has test-fired a new type of tactical guided weapon with "a powerful warhead" today, with the nation's leader Kim Jong-un calling it "an event of very weighty significance in increasing the combat power". 

a.       It is North Korea's first public weapon test since the second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump ended with no agreement in February.

10.NASA astronaut Christina Koch has been scheduled to stay on the International Space Station for over 300 days, thereby breaking the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. 

a.       The earlier record was held by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson at 288 days.

11.Former Peruvian President Alan García died today after shooting himself in the head as police arrived at his home to arrest him in connection with a bribery investigation. 

a.       He was under investigation for allegedly taking bribes from Brazilian company Odebrecht, an accusation he had repeatedly denied.

12.Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and public-interest litigators Arundhati Katju and Menaka Guruswamy, who spearheaded a historic legal battle for LGBTQ rights in India, are among the Indians who have been named by TIME magazine in its prestigious 2019 List of the 100 most influential people in the world.

a.       Other important people featured in the list are : Taylor Swift, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Chinese scientist He Jiankui, Facebook Co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Huawei Founder Ren Zhengfei, US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping.

13.The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has formed a Central Monitoring Committee to prepare and enforce a national plan to make over 350 river stretches pollution freeacross the country. 

a.       The committee would comprise representatives 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 Central Pollution Control Board chairman.

b.      The Committee will also coordinate with the River Rejuvenation Committees of the states and oversee the execution of the action plans, taking into account the timelines, budgetary mechanism and other factors.

14.Benjamin Netanyahu has been nominated to become Israel's Prime Minister for the 5 time after President Reuven Rivlin invited him to form the new government. 

a.       With this, he will become Israel's longest-serving Prime Minister.

15.Indian Cricketer Mithali Raj has been named as the Goodwill ambassador of the Indian team for the Street Child Cricket World Cup.

a.       She will join former captain Saurav Ganguly and IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals in supporting the team India for the Street Child Cricket World Cup.

b.      Note : The 1st ever Cricket World Cup for street children will take place ahead of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in England and Wales.

c.       Aim of Street Child Cricket World Cup 2019 : To unite street children from around the world to play in their own international cricket tournament to raise awareness and tackle the widespread stigma and negative treatment they face.

16.The 2019 Singapore Open badminton tournament was recently concluded. Here is the complete winners list. 

a.       Men’s Singles - Kento Momota (Japan)

b.      Women’s Singles - Tai Tzu-ying (Taiwan)

c.       Men’s Doubles - Takeshi Kamura (Japan) and  Keigo Sonoda (Japan)

d.      Women’s Doubles - Mayu Matsumoto (Japan) and Wakana Nagahara (Japan)

e.       Mixed Doubles - Dechapol Puavaranukroh (Thailand) and Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Thailand)