General Knowledge & Current Affairs
April 2022 -18th to 24th
- Atomic Energy Commission Chairman K. N. Vyas gets one year extension
- Alliance Air starts direct flight service between Mumbai and Keshod in Gujarat under UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme
- Indian Coast Guard gets new hoverport at Okha in Gujarat
- All India Radio launches weekly interactive programme ‘Abhyaas’ for competitive exams
- e-Sanjeevani Tele-consultation facility launched at one lakh Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres
- Lt Gen Manoj Pande becomes first engineer to be appointed Army chief
- President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurates Diamond Jubilee celebrations of India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi
- India, Finland announce decision to establish Indo-Finnish Virtual Network Centre on Quantum Computing
- Mauritius PM Pravind Kumar Jugnauth arrives on 8-day visit to India
- IAF successfully test-fires BrahMos missile from Su30-MkI fighter jet
- Indian and foreign higher education institutions can offer joint or dual degrees: UGC
- Gujarat: PM lays foundation stone of WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar
- Project-75’s sixth and last Scorpene-class submarine INS Vagsheer launched in Mumbai; manufactured by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited
- Supreme Court stays anti-encroachment drive by authorities in Jahangirpuri, New Delhi
- Veteran filmmaker T Rama Rao of ‘Andhaa Kaanoon’ & ‘Khatron ke Khiladi’ fame dies at 84
- Civil Services Day celebrated on April 21; Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration presented to 16 winners
- PM Modi, UK’s PM Boris Johnson hold talks in New Delhi
- Court has power to review govt’s decision on remission: SC
- South Africa: More than 400 killed in floods in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province
- UK enters into a deal with Rwanda to send illegal immigrants to the East African country
- World Bank cuts its global growth forecast for 2022 from 3.2% from 4.1%,
- Google launches ‘Switch to Android’ app allowing Apple users to move their data from iPhone to Android
- World Heritage Day celebrated on April 18, theme: ‘Heritage and Climate’
- Taco Bell to bring back Mexican Pizza on their menus from May; had been discontinued in November 2020
- Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman meets IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva during annual spring meetings of IMF and the World Bank in Washington
- Citing Russia’s war, IMF cuts global growth forecast for 2022 to 3.6% from 4.4% made in January
- Russia seizes Kreminna, a town in Donbas region in eastern Ukraine
- World Liver Day observed on April 19
- AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and Sugar Cosmetics CEO Vineeta Singh among 7 Indians in WEF’s Young Global Leaders list under the age of 40
- Chinese Language Day observed by UN on April 20
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy among five winners of John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in US
- Russia successfully test-fires Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile
- Russia claims control over Ukrainian port city Mariupol on the Azov Sea
- José Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner, elected new President of Timor-Leste
- World Creativity and Innovation Day celebrated by UN on April 21
- Philippines: Death toll from tropical storm Agaton goes up to 224
- World’s largest exporter Indonesia bans palm oil exports from April 28
- Earth Day celebrated on April 22; theme: ‘Invest in our planet’
- SpaceX launches 53 more Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit from Florida
- Twitter bans ads that deny the reality of climate change
- Google to ban all third-party call-recording apps from Play Store starting May 11
- English Language Day, Spanish Language Day celebrated by UN on April 23
- World Book and Copyright Day celebrated by UNSECO on April 23
- Govt amends Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) rules to allow 20% foreign direct investment in LIC
- Sanmar Group’s chairman N. Sankar dies at the age of 76 in Chennai
- World Bank report says extreme poverty in India declines 12.3% during 2011-2019
- WPI inflation hits 4-month high of 14.55% in March as crude, commodity prices spike
- Enforcement Directorate (ED) attaches assets worth over Rs 757 cr of Amway India Enterprises Private Ltd; company accused of running a multi-level marketing scam
- Hinduja Group flagship Ashok Leyland enters used commercial vehicles business in tie up with Mahindra First Choice Wheels Ltd (MFCWL)
- Germany’s BMW launches ‘Silver Shadow Edition’ of its X4 model at Rs 71.9 lakh
- IMF slashes India’s 2022-23 GDP growth forecast to 8.2% from 9% earlier in its World Economic Outlook report
- Govt sets foodgrain output target at 328 million tonnes for 2022-23 crop year (July-June)
- India’s first portable solar rooftop system inaugurated at Swaminarayan Akshardham temple complex in Gandhinagar
- Reliance Brands Limited acquires 51% stake in couturiers Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla (AJSK)
- Gem, jewellery exports rebound 56% to touch $39 bn in FY22: GJEPC (Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council)
- PM Modi announces new initiatives, special mark for Ayush products at the Global Ayush Investment & Innovation Summit 2022 at Gandhinagar on April 20-22
- UK’s PM Boris Johnson opens new JCB factory built at Halol near Vadodara in Gujarat
- Suman K. Bery replaces Rajiv Kumar as NITI Aayog Vice Chairman
- Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone acquires marine services provider Ocean Sparkle for Rs 1,700 crore
- Amazon acquires homegrown women-focused social commerce startup GlowRoad for an undisclosed sum
- Apple provides grant to Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) to protect mangroves in Raigad district of Maharashtra
- India’s foreign exchange reserves down $311 million to $603.7 billion
- Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) calls off deal to buy Future Retail after secured creditors reject it
- Oil production in India declined 2.7% in 2021-22 to 29.69 million tonnes
- PALESTINE
More than 100 Palestinians were said to have been injured in the compound of Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque in clashes with Israeli riot police, who accused the Palestinians of throwing stones and firecrackers at Jews praying at the Wailing Wall below. - BRITAIN
The British government’s latest scheme to tackle illegal immigration was widely denounced. It involves deporting asylum-seekers who cross the English Channel without permission to Rwanda, 6,500km from Britain. - SOUTH AFRICA
At least 443 people were killed, and dozens more are missing, after floods swept away nearly 4,000 homes around the South African city of Durban. - PAKISTAN
Pakistan carried out air strikes in Afghanistan, killing almost 50 people, in response to an increase in attacks in Pakistan by jihadists that Pakistan says are based in Afghanistan. - UKRAINE
Ukraine claimed to have hit the Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, with two missiles. Russia later admitted that it had sunk, although it blamed the loss on a fire.
- Haryana defeats Tamil Nadu in final to win Hockey India Senior Men’s National Championships in Bhopal
- Wisden announces 5 ‘Cricketers of the Year’ for 2022: Rohit Sharma & Jasprit Bumrah (India), Devon Conway (NZ), Ollie Robinson (England) Dane van Niekerk (South Africa)
- Wimbledon tennis tournament bans players from Russia and Belarus from participating
- Asian Wrestling Championships at Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia: Indian women wrestlers Anshu Malik (57 kg) and Radhika (65 kg) win silver, Manisha (62 kg) wins bronze
- Asian Wrestling Championships at Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia: Ravi Dahiya wins gold in men’s 57 kg
- Kenyans Peres Jepchirchir (women’s), Evans Chebet (men’s) win Boston Marathon
- India’s D. Gukesh wins La Roda International Open chess tournament in Spain
