22th APRIL CURRENT AFFAIRS IN ENGLISH

1. Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018 held in London

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018, also known as CHOGM 2018, was the 25th meeting of the heads of government of the Commonwealth of Nations.

• It was held in the United Kingdom. Prime Minister attended the meeting for India.
• The meeting had been planned to have been held by Vanuatu at the end of 2017, but was moved to the United Kingdom after the impact of Cyclone Pam on the infrastructure of Vanuatu.
• The meeting was then postponed to April 2018 due to other international commitments.
• Rwanda has been selected as host of the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), to be held in 2020.

2. Malaria Summit 2018 held in London

Malaria Summit 2018 was held recently in London.

• Leaders from 15 Commonwealth counties, along with The Prince of Wales and Bill Gates, gathered in London to re-focus and reignite global efforts to beat malaria for good.
• While significant progress has been made in recent years, a child under five still dies from malaria every two minutes and in 2016, for the first time in years, the number of malaria cases in the world went up. 

3. Civil Service Day: 21 April

The Civil Service Day is celebrated on 21 April every year.

• The purpose for this day is to rededicate and recommit themselves to the cause of the people.
• It is observed by all Civil Services. This day gives civil servants the opportunity for introspection and thinking about future strategies.

4. Dhvani se Sabd aur Chinh Exhibition inaugurated at NGMA, Mumbai

An exhibition titled "Dhvani se Sabd aur Chinh” was inaugurated at National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai.

• Curated by Adwaita Gadanayak and his team, the exhibition speaks to us about southern sensibilities and singular identities that were forged through scholarly adaptations, multiple skills and experiments that were seeking to juxtapose the notions of the modern with the traditional.
• It identifies artists who practiced in Southern states as well as artists who were born there or had family trees and moved up North to become the greatest practitioners and pedagogues.

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

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi 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.
• This scheme will extend to all States and UTs of the Country and will also include institutions of rural local government in non-Part IX areas, where Panchayats do not exist,
• The scheme will have both    Central Component - National Level activities including "National Plan of Technical Assistance", "Mission Mode project on e-Panchayat", "Incentivization of Panchayats" and State component - Capacity Building of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).

6. Two-day festival will be organized on 23-24 April on National Panchayati Raj Divas

The Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said in New Delhi that a two-day event has been organized this year on National Panchayati Raj Din.

• On April 23, an interactive group discussion cum workshop will be organized in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh called "Panchayat Ki Choupal Mein Charcha".
• The main topics of this discussion are: GPDP - Economic Development and Planning in Panchayat, Social Development and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Yuva Panchayat - New India, New Thinking, Rural Transformation through Digital Panchayats, Clean India Campaign.
• It is important that this year is also the 25th anniversary of the 73rd Constitution Amendment.

7. Union Cabinet clears ordinance on death penalty to child rapists

In the wake of outrage over the brutal rape and murder of a minor in Kathua, Jammu & Kashmir, the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved an ordinance to allow courts to pronounce the death penalty to those convicted of raping children up to 12 years of age.

• Ordinance approved by the Cabinet also prescribes the minimum punishment in case of rape of women to increase from rigorous imprisonment of 7 years to 10 years, extendable to life imprisonment.
• In case of rape of a girl under 16 years, minimum punishment has been increased from 10 years to 20 years, extendable to imprisonment for rest of life, which means imprisonment till that person’s natural life.

8. IOB inks information utility pact with NeSL

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), one of the leading public sector banks, entered into an agreement for information utility services with the National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL).

• The NeSL became India's first information utility (IU) for bankruptcy cases under the 'Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016' in October 2017.
• With this agreement, the IOB branches will be able to provide high-quality, authenticated information about debts and defaults.

9. President receives the first copy of book “Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s greatest thinker”

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, received the first copy of the book “Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker”, from the author Shri Pavan Varma, at Rashtrapati Bhavan,

• Among the dignitaries present were Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and Shri D P Tripathi. 
• President said the imprint of Adi Shankaracharya, who was born over 1,200 years ago in Kerala, is still apparent in contemporary India and in fact in all parts of our country.