National News

Centre imposes 12% safeguard duty to shield Indian steel sector

• The Centre has imposed a 12 per cent safeguard duty on the import of certain non-alloy and alloy steel flat products with a view to shielding the Indian steel sector.
• This measure is a timely and necessary step to protect domestic steel manufacturers from the adverse impact of import surges and to ensure fair competition in the market.
• This move will provide critical relief to domestic producers, especially small and medium-scale enterprises, who have faced immense pressure from rising imports of steel. The safeguard duty will help restore market stability and reinforce the confidence of the domestic industry.

Union Health Ministry observes Pan-India ‘Fire Safety Week’ from 21st to 25th April

• The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched the Fire Safety Week in collaboration with all States/UTs as well as relevant central Ministries/Departments from 21st to 25th April, 2025.
• Over 3,000 participants from public and private health facilities virtually joined the pledge ceremony and webinar on “Emergency evacuation and patient safety strategies” and “Fire prevention in high-risk areas of healthcare facilities”.
• Various activities have been planned throughout the country during the Fire Safety Week in order to raise awareness regarding importance of prevention and mitigation of fire hazards in all healthcare facilities across the country.

Maharashtra launches Pink E Rickshaw Scheme with Kinetic Green

• The Maharashtra government has launched the Pink E-Rickshaw Scheme to empower women and make them financially independent.
• The Pink E Rickshaw Scheme was officially launched by the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, at a function in Pune, where electric three-wheelers were distributed to selected beneficiaries.
• The Pink E Rickshaw Scheme is being administered by the state government’s Women & Child Development Department.
• The Kinetic Green Energy company is a partner with the state government in this initiative. The Kinetic Green company will provide the electric three-wheeler to the beneficiaries.
• Under the initiative, 10,000 e-rickshaws will be distributed in eight districts: Nagpur, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Kolhapur, Amravati, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Pune, and Nashik of Maharashtra.

About Maharashtra

• Capital – Mumbai
• Chief Minister – Devendra Fadnavis (3rd time)
• Deputy Chief Minister – Eknath Sindhe & Ajit Pawar
• Governor – C P Radhakrishnan
• Legislative Assembly Speaker – Rahul Narwekar

Amaravati to be world’s first fully renewable-powered city

• Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh’s planned capital city, aims to become the world’s first city powered entirely by renewable energy, targeting a 2,700 MW capacity through sources like solar, wind, and hydropower.
• The foundation stone for the capital city is expected to be laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this month, with the project covering 217 square kilometers, a part of the larger 8,352 sq km Andhra Pradesh Capital Region.
• Amaravati will serve as a global model for urban sustainability, showcasing India’s leadership in clean energy while setting a benchmark for future cities in the green urban planning domain.

About Andhra Pradesh

• Capital – Amaravati
• Chief Minister – N Chandrababu Naidu
• Deputy CM – Pawan Kalyan
• Governor – Abdul Nazeer

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar launches ‘Mahila Samvad’ campaign targeting women empowerment

• Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has launched the Mahila Samvad campaign—an ambitious, statewide drive to connect women with welfare schemes and elevate their voices in governance.
• The campaign is a state-wide outreach programme that aims to engaging with over two crore women across 70,000 locations in Bihar.
• A total of 600 ‘Mahila Samvad raths’ will eventually cover all the 38 disctricts and 48,000 villages of Bihar.

About Bihar

• Capital – Patna
• Chief Minister – Nitish Kumar (9th time)
• Deputy CM – Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha
• Governor – Arif Mohammed Khan

MSDE and Microsoft Launch ‘AI Careers for Women’ Initiative to Empower Women in Emerging Tech

• The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and Microsoft have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch AI Careers for Women—a pioneering skilling initiative aimed at empowering women in higher education institutions to pursue careers in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• This strategic collaboration seeks to bridge the gender gap in emerging tech by equipping women with industry-aligned AI skills, enabling them to participate meaningfully in the digital economy and become active contributors to India’s innovation-led growth.
• As part of this collaboration, Microsoft will provide 240-hours training curriculum under AI skilling and Innovation framework for women, aligned to the industry standards, and developed in consultation with the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET).

Banking and Financial

RBI permits minors above 10 years to operate bank accounts independently

• The Reserve Bank of India permitted banks to allow minors above the age of 10 years to open and operate savings/term deposit accounts independently.
• Minors of any age may be allowed to open and operate savings and term deposit accounts through his/her natural or legal guardian, the RBI said in a circular addressed to commercial banks and cooperative banks. They may also be allowed to open such accounts with their mother as guardian.
• Minors above such an age limit not less than 10 years and up to such amount and such terms as may be fixed by the banks keeping in view their risk management policy, may be allowed to open and operate savings/term deposit accounts independently, if they so desire, and such terms shall be duly conveyed to the account holder.
• Further, on attaining the age of majority, fresh operating instructions and specimen signature of the account holder should be obtained and kept on record.
• The banks are free to offer additional banking facilities like internet banking, ATM/ debit cards, cheque book facility, etc, to the minor account holders basis their risk management policy, product suitability and customer appropriateness.
• The banks will have to ensure that accounts of minors, whether operated independently or through a guardian, are not allowed to be overdrawn and that these always remain in a credit balance.
• Also, the banks shall perform customer due diligence for opening of deposit accounts of minors and undertake ongoing due diligence. The RBI has asked banks to make new or amend existing policies to align them with the revised guidelines, latest by July 1, 2025.

Poonawalla Fincorp and MobiKwik Collaborate to Revolutionise Instant Personal Loans

• Poonawalla Fincorp, a leading NBFC backed by the Cyrus Poonawalla Group, has joined forces with MobiKwik to launch instant personal loans through the fintech platform’s ZIP EMI service.
• This partnership enables users across India, including Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, to access loans ranging from ?50,000 to ?15 lakh, significantly expanding MobiKwik’s previous loan limits of up to ?2 lakh offered via other NBFC partnerships.
• The collaboration integrates Poonawalla Fincorp’s lending expertise with MobiKwik’s digital reach, allowing borrowers to secure funds within minutes through a fully digital process.
• Users can select flexible repayment tenures spanning 6 to 36 months, a notable extension from MobiKwik’s earlier 3–24-month options. The initiative targets diverse financial needs, including education, healthcare, and travel, while promoting credit score improvement through timely repayments.

Financial Intelligence Unit imposes ?37 lakh penalty on Union Bank of India

• The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has slapped a ?37 lakh penalty on Union Bank of India for discrepancies in reporting suspicious transactions for 2011-2014.
• Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) in its order dated April 15 imposed a penalty of ?37 lakh for “discrepancies observed in a matter for the year 2011 to 2014 in reporting of suspicious transaction”.

Recent Penalties imposed on Banks

• Kotak Mahindra Bank (?4 lakh) by RBI – for non-compliance with RBI guidelines related to loan system delivery and statutory restrictions on loans and advances.
• IDFC First Bank (?6 lakh) by RBI – for violating RBI’s Know Your Customer (KYC) norms.
• Punjab National Bank (?6 lakh) by RBI – for lapses in following RBI directions on customer service in banks
• Flipkart Internet Private Limited (1.06 crore) by IRDAI – for violating e-commerce and corporate agent norms related to online insurance distribution.
• Penalty on HDFC Bank (?75 lakh) by RBI– Violation of KYC (Know Your Customer) norms.

SIDBI plans to infuse $800 million in Climate Fund for small businesses

• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) will sign an agreement with the Green Climate Fund in mid-May to support small businesses in adopting low-emission and climate-resilient technologies.
• The bank would infuse $800 million, a major portion of which will be raised to build a $1 billion fund, including the existing Global Climate Fund (GCF) for the project.
• Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which the Economic Survey 2024-25 estimated to contribute about 30% of India’s GDP, are a significant emitter of greenhouse gases and vulnerable to extreme weather events.

Awards

Achyuta Samanta Conferred Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma Award 2025

• Achyuta Samanta, the visionary founder of KIIT and KISS, was honored with the prestigious Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma Award 2025 in Kokrajhar, Assam.
• The award, instituted by the Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma Trust, celebrates individuals who have made substantial contributions to society, especially in the fields of education and social empowerment.
• This recognition comes on the occasion of the 166th birth anniversary of Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma, a revered social reformer and spiritual leader of the Bodo community.
• As part of the honour, Dr Samanta received a citation, a memento, and a cash award of Rs. 1 lakh. In a noble gesture, Dr Samanta donated the entire award money back to the Trust for its development.

Recent Award

• Breakthrough Prize 2025 for Contribution to ALICE Collaboration at CERN – Bose Institute’s High-Energy Physics Team
• Knighthood for his services to Cricket – James Andersons
• Key to the City of Lisbon – President Droupadi Murmu
• Sri Lanka Mitra Vibhushana (nation’s highest civilian honour for a foreign head of state) – PM Narendra Modi
• Fred Darrington Sand Master Award – Sudarsan Pattnaik (for his outstanding contributions to sand art)

Sports

Rohit, Kohli retain top BCCI annual contract as Iyer, Kishan return

• Indian team stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have retained their A+ category contracts despite retiring from the T20I format, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the annual player retainership for the men’s team for the 2024–25 season.
• New additions to the central contracts list—all placed in Grade C—include Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel, Abhishek Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, and Harshit Rana.
• Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, KS Bharat, and Avesh Khan—who were part of the C category last season—have been excluded from the contract list altogether.
• A total of 34 players have been awarded annual retainerships for the 2024–25 season, covering the period from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025.
• Grade A+: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja
• Grade A: Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant
• Grade B: Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer
• Grade C: Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana.
• The BCCI pays the Grade A+ players an annual remuneration of Rs. 7 crore, while Grade A players receive 5 crore. Grade B cricketers get 3 crore, Grade C category get 1 cr. each.

India finishes 2025 ISSF World Cup Lima Campaign with 7 medals

• Indian shooters concluded their campaign at the ISSF World Cup Lima 2025 with seven medals – two gold, four silver, and one bronze – to finish third behind China and the USA on the medal tally.
• The ISSF World Cup/Rifle/Shotgun was held at the Peruvian capital city of Lima from 13-22 April 2022. It was the second World Cup of the 2025 ISSF calendar, with the first World Cup being held at Buenos Aires, Argentina from 1-10 April 2025.
• At the Buenos Aires event, the Indian shooting contingent won eight medals —four gold, two silver, and two bronze—to finish second behind China.
• Medal winners for India
• India won 7 medals – two gold, four silver, and one bronze medal at the Lima event.

Gold medal winners

• Suruchi Singh in the women’s 10m air pistol event. She had also won the gold at the Buenos Aires event.
• Saurabh Chaudhary &Suruchi Singh in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.

Silver Medal winners

• Manu Bhaker in the women’s 10m air pistol event. She failed to win a medal at the Buenos Aires event.
• Arjun Babuta in the men’s 10m air rifle event
• Simranpreet Kaur Brar in the women’s 25m pistol event. It was Simranpreet’s first-ever medal at the World Cup.
• Rudrannksh Patil & Arya Borse in the 10m air rifle mixed team event.

Bronze medal winner

• Saurabh Chaudhary in the men’s 10m air pistol event.

Neeraj Chopra Clinches Gold with 84.52 m at NWU Potch Invitational

• Neeraj Chopra, the two-time Olympic medallist, started his 2025 season by winning the gold medal at the NWU Potch Invitational in South Africa with an impressive throw of 84.52m.
• His throw of 84.52m secured the top spot, placing him ahead of South Africa’s Douw Smit (82.44m) and Duncan Robertson (71.22m).

Important day

23 April – World Book and Copyright Day

• World Book and Copyright Day is observed every year on 23 April.
• This global event, organised by UNESCO, aims to promote the importance of reading, encourage lifelong learning, and highlight the value of literature.
• Established by UNESCO in 1995, the day honors authors, encourages literacy, and highlights the importance of books in fostering knowledge and creativity.

What is copyright?

• Copyright is a legal term that grants exclusive rights to the original works of authors, including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works.
• Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects the rights of creators of original works of authorship. It gives them exclusive rights to control how their work is used.