• Patna tops in 4G connectivity among 20 of India’s largest cities, according to the report of OpenSignal, a wireless coverage mapping company.

• The Haryana government has launched the ‘Gobardhan Yojana’to provide for the sale of organic manure and cow urine with an aim to benefit farmers. A provision of Rs.11 crore has been made under this scheme.

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) is going to conduct its biggest ever combat exercise named Gagan Shakti, 2018 along Pakistan and China borders. For the first time, the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas will be taking part in the exercise and will perform both the offensive and defensive roles.

• The Centre, Maharastra Government and the World Bank have signed a 420 million dollar project to help small and marginal farmers in the Marathwada and Vidarbha region of the state. The Maharashtra Project for ‘Climate Resilient Agriculture’ will be implemented in rural areas largely dependent upon rain-fed agriculture.

• The World Health Day is a global health awareness day organized globally on 7th April.  The theme of World Health Day, 2018 is: Universal health coverage: everyone, everywhere. The slogan is “Health for All”.

• Leander Paes became the most successful doubles player in the history of Davis Cup as he combined with Rohan Bopanna to grab a record 43rd win.

• Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb launched the state component of Pradhanmantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna (PMKVY) in Agartala. Tripura is the first state in the North East to implement the state component of PMKVY through Directorate of Skill Development (DSD).

• The Reserve Bank of India switched back to the gross domestic product (GDP)-based measure to offer its growth estimates from the gross value added (GVA) methodology, citing global best practices. The government had started analysing growth estimates using GVA methodology from January 2015 and had also changed the base year to 2018 from January.

• Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma will be awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award for her successful movies as a producer. The award will be given by an organisation called Dadasaheb Phalke Foundation, a Mumbai-based organisation, which is different from the Government of India instituted Dadasaheb Phalke Award, awarded during National Awards ceremony held annually in New Delhi.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off India’s first all-electric high-speed locomotive in Bihar. The first big Make-in-India project was completed by France’s Alstom.

• Tripura hosted the first meeting of the NITI Forum- a unit of NITI Aayog in Agartala. The ‘NITI Forum for North East’ was constituted in February 2018 with an aim to ensure the sustainable economic growth of the North Eastern Region of the country. The meeting was chaired by the vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog, Rajeev Kumar.

• The government has amended Income Tax rules that will now allow transgenders to be recognised as an independent category of applicants for obtaining a Permanent Account Number (PAN) for their tax-related transactions.

• The SBI has announced the launch of its UK subsidiary, SBI (UK) Limited, with an initial capital commitment of 225 million pounds from its parent entity.

• The State Bank of India will be investing a total of 80 billion in the Arun III hydropower project of Nepal, which has 900 megawatts (MW) electricity production capacities.

• Jammu and Kashmir Bank has launched a special financing scheme named ‘Add-on Working Capital GST’ to help the state industry cope with the delay in reimbursement of GST under special tax relief.

• Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been elected chairman of ‘Boao Forum for Asia’ (BFA). Founded in 2001, the BFA is a non-governmental and non-profit international organisation committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals.

• Rishad Premji, Board member of Wipro Ltd. has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) for 2018-19. Debjani Ghosh has been recently appointed the new president of Nasscom.

• The Indian Space Research Organisation launched the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1I, the eighth such satellite to be a part of a constellation. It was launched from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. IRNSS-1I is expected to replace IRNSS-1A, the first of the seven navigation satellites that was rendered ineffective after its three rubidium atomic clocks failed. The seven satellites are part of the NavIC navigation satellite constellation.

• Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport has reached 16th Position to enter the club of the top 20 busiest airports across the world, according to the Airport Council International’s preliminary report on airport traffic for 2017.

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)launched ‘Project Dhoop’, an initiative aimed at shifting the school assembly time to noon to ensure maximum absorption of Vitamin D in students through natural sunlight. Pawan Agarwal is the CEO of FSSAI.

• Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani approved setting up a 5,000 MW capacity solar park at the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR), which would be the largest such entity in the world after its completion.

• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has decided to scrap the quota system in government services after thousands of students marched across the country in protest against a controversial policy of setting aside jobs for special groups.

• Kidambi Srikanth has become the first Indian male badminton player to attain the world number one ranking since Prakash Padukone in the 1980s. Srikanth had also become the first-ever Indian to win four Superseries titles in a year in 2017.

• Veteran Hindi film actor Shri Vinod Khanna was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to Indian Cinema. This was announced during the 65th National Film Awards. Some of the other prominent winners in various categories for this year National Film Awards included Assamese movie ‘Village Rockstars’ in Best Feature Film category and ‘Baahubali – The Conclusion’ in the Best Popular Film providing Wholesome Entertainment category. The Feature Film Central panel was headed by Shekhar Kapur.

• India is at 130th spot in the latest annual Index of Economic Freedom released by a top American think-tank the Heritage Foundation. Hong Kong tops the list.

• Fifteen-year-old shooter Anish Bhanwala became India’s youngest gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games, winning the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Finals with a record score at Gold Coast, Australia.

• On the occasion of Birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the phase one of the Ayushman Bharat schemes that aim at creating a healthy, prosperous and strong India. The first phase of Ayushman Bharat will see 1.5 Lakh such Centers being set up across the country.

• Five-time world champion and Olympic bronze medallist MC Mary Kom has become the first Indian woman boxer to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.