• ISRO successfully launched the GSLV-F08 carrying the GSAT6A communication satellite from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
• Cabinet has approved Schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC) including the continuation of existing Schemes. It will boost the development projects in North-East. Four thousand five hundred crore rupees have been approved for the scheme for three years up to March 2020. Note: North-East India comprises eight states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.
• The RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 58.9 crore on ICICI Bank Limited for non-compliance with the directions issued by the RBI on direct sale of securities from its Held To Maturity (HTM) portfolio and specified disclosure in this regard.
• The stock market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allowed physical settlement of both stock options and stock futures. At present only cash settlement of derivatives is allowed.
• Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar inaugurated the Smart India Hackathon Grand Finale 2018– Software edition in New Delhi. It is intended to promote innovation, out-of-the-box thinking in young minds.One lakh students from 1,200 colleges are participating at the world’s largest Hackathon.
• Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of 55770  fully covered tribal habitations with the safe drinking water in the country followed by Odisha and Jharkhand.
• The Supreme Court appointed Justice Jawad Rahim—a former judge of the Karnataka High Court—as acting chairman of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), three months after the previous chairperson retired.
• Several Budget proposals, including the reintroduction of the tax on long-term capital gains (LTCG) exceeding Rs 1 lakh from the sale of shares, kicked in from 01st April 2018, the beginning of the 2018-19 financial year. Besides, other tax proposals like the reduced corporate tax of 25 percent on businesses on a turnover of up to Rs.250 crore and a standard deduction of Rs 40,000 in lieu of transport allowance and medical reimbursement, also came into effect from 01st April 2018.
• India received its first LNG (liquefied natural gas) cargo from the US under a long-term supply deal when a ship carrying super-cooled natural gas arrived at Dabhol in Maharashtra.
• Six years after it applied for the Geographical Indications (GI)tag for Kadaknath, a chicken breed whose black meat is in demand in some quarters, Madhya Pradesh has got the coveted label.  Chennai-based GI Registry accepted the application of Gramin Vikas Trust, Jhabua, which was filed in 2012.
• Veteran director Shekhar Kapur has been appointed the chairman of the central panel of the 65th National Film Awards. The central panel comprises a chairperson and 10 other members, including five regional chairpersons who head the respective regional panels.
• Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj was adjudged ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ while ace shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and P V Sindhu bagged the best senior male and female athletes at the Telangana Sports Journalists Association annual awards for 2017 in Hyderabad.
• India is now the second-largest mobile phone producer in the world after China.
• With an aim to combat the rising levels of air pollution in Delhi-NCR region, petrol pumps in the capital started supplying ultra-clean Bharat Stage VI grade fuel(both petrol and diesel). This move makes New Delhi the first city in the country to switch from BS-IV grade fuels to BS-VI (equivalent to fuel meeting Euro-VI emission norms).
• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated a 30-km-long elevated road, touted to be the longest of its kind in the country, connecting UP Gate and Rajnagar Extension, Ghaziabad.
• The Mangalore International Airport has been adjudged the cleanest airport in the country.
• The United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared 2 April as World Autism Awareness Day to highlight the need to help improve the quality of life of those with autism so they can lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society. The theme for WAAD 2018 is “Empowering Women and Girls with Autism”.
• Jana Small Finance Bank (formerly Janalakshmi Financial Services) announced commencement of its banking operations. Jana Small Finance Bank headquarters are in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• In a bid to prevent the possibility of manipulation in the prices of securities, especially government securities (G-Secs),the Reserve Bank of India has changed the methodology used by debt market players, including banks and primary dealers, for their valuation. As per a central bank directive, security/ bond valuation will be based on the weighted average price of the last half-an-hour of trading on the last trading day of every quarter against the last traded price earlier.
• Lyricist and director Sreekumaran Thampihas been selected for the C. Daniel Award, the Kerala government’s highest honour for lifetime contribution to Malayalam cinema.
• Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth was appointed as a Deputy Collector in the state government by the CM of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu. Kidambi Srikanth became the first Indian to win four Superseries titles in a calendar year after winning the French Open earlier in 2017.
• Senior bureaucrat Chandra Bhushan Kumar has been appointed as Deputy Election Commissioner. Om Prakash Rawat is the present Chief Election Commissioner of India.
• Kerala has lifted their sixth Santosh Trophy Football title, defeating defending champions Bengalvia penalty shootout.
• The state government of West Bengal introduced a new scheme called ‘Rupashree’ in order to provide marriage assistance to girls coming from economically weaker families with a budgetary allocation of Rs.1500 crore. The scheme proposes to extend one-time financial assistance worth Rs.25,000 to the family of the girl whose annual income is up to Rs.1.5 lakh.
• With the beginning of the financial year 2018-19, thee-way Bill System for Inter-State movement of goods came into force. Under this system businesses and transporters have to produce before a GST inspector e-way bill for moving goods worth over Rs.50,000 from one state to another.
• According to report released by global startup ecosystem map Startupblink, India was ranked 37th out of 125 countries in global startup ecosystem in 2017. The list was topped by the United States.
• The Ministry of Human Resource Development has constituted a High Powered Committee to examine the entire system of conducting Class X and Class XII examination conducted by the CBSE with a view to prevent leakages. Mr Vinay Sheel Oberoi, Secretary (Higher Education), MHRD will be the Chairperson of the 7 member High Power Committee.
• An MoU was signed between the Indian Army and HDFC Bank on the Defence Salary Package. Under the current MoU apart from other benefits the Army personnel will get free personal accident death cover and free permanent disability cover of Rs.30 lakhs, free educational cover of upto Rs.1 Lakh per year for four years for education of dependent child in case of accidental death of defence personnel and 100% processing fees waived for Car Loans and Personal Loans.
• Jio Payments Bank Limited has commenced operations as a payments bank. The Reserve Bank has issued a licence to the bank under Section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to carry on the business of payments bank in India. Telecom major Bharti Airtel was the first to begin payment bank services in November 2016.
• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.0%. Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate (RRR) under the LAF remains at 75%, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.25%.
• SBI Life Insurance has appointed Sanjeev Nautiyal as its new Managing Director and CEO. SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture life insurance company between State Bank of India and and BNP Paribas Cardif. Its headquarters are in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• Assam Health and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was unanimously elected the Badminton Association of India (BAI) President during its annual general body meeting in Goa.
• The 55th edition of National Maritime Day was celebrated all over India on 5th April. The theme for National Maritime Day 2018 is: ‘Indian Shipping – An Ocean of opportunity’.
• India emerged as the third most vulnerable country in terms of risk of cyber threats, such as malware, spam and ransomware, in 2017, according to a report by security solutions provider Symantec. The U.S. was most vulnerable to such attacks.
• Indo-Korean joint anti-piracy,search and rescue exercise ‘Sahyog- Hyeoblyeog 2018’ was conducted off the Chennai coast, in Tamil Nadu. The Korean Coast Guard ship ‘Bodaro’ took part in the exercise.
• The 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games began in Gold Coast, Australia. Carrara Stadium has been chosen as the venue to host the opening ceremony. India was represented at the opening ceremony by a contingent of over 200 athletes who were led by flag-bearer P V Sindhu.
• Weightlifter and current world champion Mirabai Chanu has clinched India’s first gold medal of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
• Teenager Deepak Lather became the youngest Indian (18 Yrs old) weightlifter to claim a Commonwealth Games medal, clinching a bronze in the men’s 69 kg category.
• Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj has become the most capped player in women’s ODI cricket after turning out for the 192nd time against England. Raj, who is also the highest run-getter in WODIs, overtook former England captain Charlotte Edwards, who had appeared in 191 WODIs. Indian fast bowler Jhulan Goswami is the third-most capped WODI player.