Latest Current Affairs – April 22 2018

1. President approves seizure of fugitive economic offenders’ assets

President Ram Nath Kovind has promulgated the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance 2018, which provides for confiscating assets of economic offenders fleeing India. It provides for seizing assets even without a conviction and paying off lenders by selling the fugitive’s properties. The provisions of the ordinance will only apply to cases where the amount involved is ₹100 crore or more.

2. World debt hits record high of $164 trillion: IMF

The world’s debt reached a record $164 trillion in 2016, which is worth 225% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product, according to the International Monetary Fund. The world is now 12% of GDP deeper in debt than the previous peak in 2009, the IMF added. Notably, China alone contributed more than 40% to the increase in global debt since 2007.

3. Sitaram Yechury elected CPI(M) General Secy for second term

Sitaram Yechury has been unanimously elected as the General Secretary of CPI(M) for his second term. His election was approved by the party’s newly-elected 95-member central committee during the 22nd Party Congress in Hyderabad. Yechury had taken over as General Secretary from Prakash Karat in the 21st Party Congress in 2015.

4. President approves death penalty for rapists of kids below 12yrs

President Ram Nath Kovind has signed the ordinance allowing courts to award death penalty to those convicted of raping children 12 years of age or younger. The Union Cabinet had approved the ordinance, following widespread protests against the Unnao and Kathua rape cases. Further, the minimum punishment for rape has been hiked from seven to ten years.

5. First woman firefighter appointed by Airports Authority

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has appointed its first woman firefighter, Taniya Sanyal, currently undergoing training in Delhi. The AAI has been facing a shortage of firefighters and has modified rules in order to recruit women. Sanyal has been appointed to AAI’s eastern region airports that include Kolkata, Patna, and Ranchi, among others.

6. MIT prof Parag Pathak named most promising economist under 40

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Parag Pathak has been awarded the John Bates Clark Medal for 2018, granted annually to the best economist under the age of 40. He was awarded for his work on market design and education policy. Pathak, who is of Nepali origin, said he was honoured to join the list of “amazing scholars”.

7. Complete List of Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award Winners 2018

Best actor (male): Shahid Kapoor

Best actor people’s choice award: Ranveer Singh

Entertainer of the year: Kartik Aryan

Best actress (critics): Aditi Rao Hydari

Lifetime achievement award: Simi Garewal

Pride of Indian cinema: Sanjay Dutt

Path-breaking producer of the year: Anushka Sharma and Karnesh Sharma

Best director: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

Outstanding performance male: Rajkummar Rao, Rana Daggubati

Outstanding performance female: Tamannaah Bhatia, Kriti Sanon

Promising face of the year: Aahana Kumra

Best actor (male) Marathi: Vaibhav Tatwawaadi

Best actor (female) Marathi: Pooja Sawant

Best fashion designer of the year: Sanjukta Dutta

Socially conscious performance of the year: Rani Mukherjee

Best comic role: Tusshar Kapoor

Entertaining performance in reality show (Bigg Boss): Hina Khan

Best actress drama award: Jennifer Winget

Best actor (male) Television: Karan Patel

Best reality show judge: Shilpa Shetty

Best talk show host: Karan Johar

Best lyricist: Manoj Muntashir

Best performance in a short film: Divya Khosla Kumar

Iconic contribution towards music: Hans Raj Hans

Comic performer of the year: Sumona Chakraborty

Versatile singer: Rani Hazarika

Social and business entrepreneur of the year: Jaya Misra

Best talk show host award for ‘Koffee with Karan’: Karan Johar

8. Jhulan Goswami honoured with commemorative stamp for 200 ODI wkts

The Indian government has released a commemorative stamp to honour Indian women’s cricket team fast bowler Jhulan Goswami for becoming the first woman cricketer to take 200 wickets in ODIs. The 35-year-old took to social media to share the picture of the stamp, which features her and the Victoria Memorial monument. Jhulan is the leading wicket-taker in women’s ODIs.

9. Iraq launches air strikes against ISIS in Syria

Iraqi forces has launched air strikes against the Islamic State in Syria, targeting the militant group’s strongholds near the city of Hajin. The strikes were carried out in coordination with the government of Syria. Both countries have been fighting the militant group since it declared its goal to establish a caliphate on both the territories in 2014.

10. Diljit Dosanjh wins International award for most trending personality

Singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh has received an international award for the ‘Most Trending Personality’ for this year at the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival. Recently he has been roped in as brand ambassador for the menswear of fbb, a fashion retail format from Future Group. He will promote the entire men’s range — casual, sports, ethnic, formal and party collection

11. Mahindra Electric ties up with Meru for e-vehicle project

Mahindra Electric, part of the diversified USD 19 billion Mahindra Group and Meru, technology-enabled cab services company, has announced a collaboration for a pilot Electric Vehicle project. The pilot project will see Meru deploy a fleet of eVeritos, the all-electric sedan by Mahindra and the model will be replicated in other cities soon.

12. Cabinet approves the restructured Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval for restructured Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA). The Scheme will be implemented during the period from 01.04.2018 to 31.03.2022 at the total cost of Rs. 7255.50 crore with the Central Share of Rs. 4500 crore and that of State Share of Rs. 2755.50 crore.

The approved scheme of RGSA will help more than 2.55 lakh Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to develop governance capabilities to deliver on SDGs through inclusive local governance with a focus on optimum utilization of available resources.