Dear Readers, Here we have given the list of Important Weekly Current Affairs 3rd week of April 2019. Candidates those who are preparing for Upcoming SBI PO/Clerk, LIC AAO and other competitive exams can make use of it.
Current Affairs: Important Days
| Date | Important days | Theme |
| April 17 | World Haemophilia Day | “Outreach and Identification” |
| April 18 | World Heritage Day | “Rural Landscapes” |
| April 19 | World Liver Day | – |
| April 21 | National Civil Service Day | – |
| April 21 | World Creativity and Innovation Day (WCID) | – |
| April 22 | World Earth day | Protect Our Species |
Current Affairs: National
- CBDT sets June 30 as deadline to dispose of demonetisation cases
Current Affairs: International
1. Google opens first Africa Artificial Intelligence lab in Ghana
| USEFUL INFO |
| Ghana Capital | Accra |
| Ghana Currency | Cedi |
| Ghana President | Nana Akufo-Addo |
- Singapore’s Changi Airport touts the world’s tallest indoor waterfall
| USEFUL INFO |
| Singapore Capital | Singapore City |
| Singapore Currency | Dollar |
| Singapore President | Halima Yacob |
3. Saudi government raises India’s Haj quota to 2 lakhs
| USEFUL INFO |
| Saudi Arabia Capital | Riyadh |
| Saudi ArabiaCurrency | Saudi riyal |
| Saudi ArabiaCrown Prince | Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud |
Current Affairs: Cabinet Approval
- The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the creation of1 post of Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General (Coordination, Communication and Information System).
- The Cabinet has given the approval for ongoingGSLV continuation programme Phase-4 that consists of 5 GSLV rocket flights during 2021-2024. The total fund requirement for the phase 4 programme is Rs 2,729.13 crore. This amount includes the cost of 5 Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles (GSLVs), addition of essential facility, programme management, launch campaign and extra funds required to meet the scope of the programme.
- They given approval for the proposal of the Department of fertilizers for extension of the duration of New Urea Policy-2015 for existing gas-based area unit fromApril 1, 2019 until further orders.
- Cabinet approves pact between India and Denmark in the field of Renewable Energy
- Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications, Government of India and The Ministry of Science and ICT (Korea Post), Government of the Republic of Korea have mutually collaborated to issue Postage Stamps on the theme “Queen Hur Hwang-ok of Korea”.
- To enhance the ties between India and Brazil to work out the future agenda for the amalgamation for innovation in Science & Technology diplomacy to develop a concrete deliberated plan in the area of biotechnology education, training and research.
- Memorandum of Understanding between India and Boliviaon collaboration in the field of Geology and Mineral Resources.
- To strengthen bilateral cooperation and mutual understanding between India and Cambodia in the field of communications.
- Memorandum of Understanding between India and Boliviain the Field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy. The pact was signed in March 2019 in Bolivia.
Current Affairs: State
- India’s first exotic Bird Park‘Essel World Bird Park’ was launched in Mumbai
| USEFUL INFO |
| Maharashtra Capital | Mumbai |
| Maharashtra Chief Minister | Devendra Fadnavis |
| Maharashtra Governor | Chinamani Vidyasagar Rao |
- Project Kannamma,is the initiative of the Rotary Club of Madras North, waslaunched
| USEFUL INFO |
| Tamil Nadu Capital | Chennai |
| Tamil NaduChief Minister | E. Palanisamy |
| Tamil NaduGovernor | Banwarilal Purohit |
- RongaliBihu (BohagBihu) festival celebrated in Assam
| USEFUL INFO |
| Assam Capital | Dishpur |
| Assam Chief Minister | Sarbananda Sonowal |
| Assam Governor | Jagdish Mukhi |
Current Affairs: Banking and Finance
- ADB committed to provide USD 3 billion in sovereign loans to India in 2018
| USEFUL INFO |
| Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Headquarters | Mandaluyong, Philippines |
| President | TakehikoNakao |
- The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) has launched a 5G Use Cases Lab for banking and financial sector
- IDBI Bank has launched paperless account facility for NRIs
| USEFUL INFO |
| IDBI BankHeadquarters | Mumbai |
| IDBI Bank MD & CEO | Rakesh Sharma |
| IDBI BankTagline | AaoSocheinBada |
- Canara Bank becomes the first public sector bank in India to meet RBI’s EMV mandate
| USEFUL INFO |
| Canara Bank Headquarters | Bengaluru |
| Canara Bank CEO | Sankara Narayanan |
| Canara BankTagline | Together We Can |
- The IMF and World Bank launched ‘Learning Coin’ to explore blockchain technologies
| USEFUL INFO |
| World Bank Headquarters | Washington, D.C., United States |
| President | David Malpass |
| International Monetary Fund CEO | Christine Lagarde |
- RBI issued banknotes of Rs. 50 denomination bearing the signature of Governor Shaktikanta Das
- The RBI has signed a Statement of Commitment (SoC) to the FX Global Code
| USEFUL INFO |
| RBI Headquarters | Mumbai |
| RBI Governor | Shaktikanta Das |
| RBI Deputy Governor | BP Kanungo, N S Vishwanathan, Viral Acharya and Mahesh Kumar Jain |
- ETMONEY becomes India’s first comprehensive financial services app to integrate UPI
- Bandhan Bank gets Competition Commission of India (CCI) nod for merger with Gruh Finance
| USEFUL INFO |
| Bandhan Bank Headquarters | Kolkata |
| Bandhan Bank CEO | Chandra ShekharGhosh |
- CRISIL board gives nod for transfer of ratings business to new subsidiary
11.Bank of Baroda and Srei Equipment Finance tie up for infra equipment loans
| USEFUL INFO |
| Bank of Baroda Headquarters | Vadodara |
| Bank of Baroda CEO | P. S. Jayakumar |
| Bank of Baroda Tagline | India’s International Bank |
12. Exim Bank funds projects worth USD 267 million to Rwanda
| USEFUL INFO |
| Export–Import Bank of India |
| EXIM Bank Headquarters | Mumbai |
| EXIM Bank CEO | David Rasquinha |
| Rwanda Capital | Kigali |
| Rwanda Currency | Rwandan franc |
| Rwanda President | Paul Kagame |
13. Cholamandalam MS General Insurance gets ISO 31000:2018 certification
Current Affairs: Appointments
| R. Mohan | City Union Bank part-time chairman |
| Mike Budenholzer | National Basketball Coaches Association’s 2019 Coach of the Year |
| Rajesh Yaduvanshi | Executive Director of Punjab National Bank |
| PadmajaAlaganandan | Chief people officer of PwC |
| Mithali Raj | Goodwill ambassador at the Street Child Cricket World Cup |
| Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Brand ambassador of Redbus |
| Sanjay kumar (Indian) | Geospatial advisory committee |
| JaideepSarkar | India’s next High Commissioner to South Africa |
| KaushikShaparia | Deutsche Bank India CEO |
| SuhelAjaz Khan | Next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Lebanon |
| SaireeChahal | Paytm Payments Bank board of director |
| Gagandeep Kang | First Indian woman to be elected Royal Society Fellow |
Current Affairs: Resignation
| SoumeylowBoubeyeMaiga | Prime Minister of Mali |
Current Affairs: Awards and Honours
| Fincare Small Finance Bank | Celent Model Bank 2019 Award in the category of Financial Inclusion |
| Paytm Payments Bank | Celent Model Bank 2019 Award under Beyond Banking category |
| Yusuf Hamied ( Cipla chairman) | UK Royal Society honour |
| SreeSreenath (Indian-American Professor) | Cleveland International Hall of Fame |
| IPR cell of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) | National Intellectual Property Award 2019 |
| Malayalam film Bhayanakam | Best cinematography at 2019 Beijing International Film Festival |
- A total of 150 Indian peacekeepers serving with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) have received medals of honour
Pulitzer Prize: 2019 Winners List
- Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.
- It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American (Hungarian-born) Joseph Pulitzer who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher, and is administered by Columbia University in New York City
- Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty of the categories, each winner receives a certificate and a US$15,000 cash award
- The winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold medal
| Sl.No | Category | Winner |
| 1. | Public service | South Florida Sun-Sentinel |
| 2. | Criticism | Carlos Lozada of The Washington Post |
| 3. | Editorial Writing | Brent Staples of The New York Times |
| 4. | Breaking News Reporting | staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
| 5. | Investigative Reporting | Harriet Ryan, Matt Hamilton and Paul Pringle |
| 6. | Explanatory Reporting | David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner of The New York Times |
| 7. | Local Reporting | staff of The Advocate of Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| 8. | National Reporting | staff of The Wall Street Journal |
| 9. | International Reporting | 1.Maggie Michael, Maad al-Zikry and Nariman El-Mofty 2. Wa Lone, KyawSoeOo and a team from Reuters |
| 10. | Feature Writing | Hannah Dreier of ProPublica |
| 11. | Commentary | Tony Messenger |
| 12. | Editorial Cartoons | Darrin Bell |
| 13. | Breaking News Photography | The photography staff of Reuters |
| 14. | Feature Photography | Lorenzo Tugnoli of The Washington Post |
| BOOKS, DRAMA, AND MUSIC | |
| 15. | Fiction | The Overstory by Richard Powers |
| 16. | Drama | Fairview by Jackie Sibblies Drury |
| 17. | General Nonfiction | Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America by Eliza Griswold |
| 18. | Drama | Fairview by Jackie Sibblies Drury |
| 19. | History | Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight |
| 20. | Autobiography or Biography | The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke by Jeffrey C. Stewart |
| 21. | Poetry | Be With by Forrest Gander |
| 22. | Special Citation | Aretha Franklin |
Current Affairs: Summit and Conference
- 4th Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific (RCAP) congress 2019 inaugurated in New Delhi
- Home Expo India 2019 begins in Greater Noida
Current Affairs: Ranking
- MukeshAmbani, ArundhatiKatju and MenakaGuruswamy are named TIME’s list of 100 most influential people
2. India ranked 140 in World Press Freedom Index 2019 report released by Reporters Without Borders
- India Rises to 17th Spot from 37th in StartupBlink’s Startup Ecosystem Ranking
Current Affairs: MoU
- India to partner with Japan and UAE to set up two projects in Africa
- Bank of Maharashtra has partnered with M1Xchange Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) platform for MSME bill discounting
| USEFUL INFO |
| Bank of Maharashtra Headquarters | Pune |
| Bank of Maharashtra CEO | A. S. Rajeev |
| Bank of Maharashtra Tagline | One family one bank |
- IIT Hyderabad has signed a MoU with Japanese firm Terra Drone Corporation to set up drone development centre for India
- Airtel Payments Bank has tied up with Bharti AXA General Insurance to offer two-wheeler insurance to its customers across India
Current Affairs: Defence
- China has successfully tested the world’s first armed amphibious drone boat
| USEFUL INFO |
| China Capital | Beijing |
| China Currency | Renminbi, Yuan |
| China President | Xi Jinping |
- Indian Coast Guard Ship Veera, the third in the series of 98 metre Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) was commissioned at Visakhapatnam
- Second Edition of Indian Navy-Vietnam Peoples’ Navy Bilateral Exercise (IN – VPN BILAT EX) Concluded in Vietnam
- India and Francewill conduct their largest ever naval exercise ‘Varuna’ in May 2019
- Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba launched a guided missile destroyer Imphal, at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, Mumbai
Current Affairs: Science and Technology
1. India’s sub-sonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’ successfully test fired from Odisha
- Nepal successfully launched its first satellite NepaliSat-1 into space from Virginia
| USEFUL INFO |
| Nepal Capital | Kathmandu |
| Nepal Currency | Nepalese rupee |
| Nepal President | Bidya Devi Bhandari |
- Sri Lanka’s first satellite ‘Raavana-1’ was launched into space from NASA’s Flight Facility on Virginia’s east shore
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| Sri Lanka Capital | Colombo, Jayawardenepura Kotte |
| Sri Lanka Currency | Sri Lankan rupee |
| Sri Lanka President | MaithripalaSirisena |
- NASA astronaut Christina Koch to set record for longest spaceflight by a woman
Current Affairs: Mobile Application and Portal
- The Election Commission of India has launched Voter Turnout app for the voters
Current Affairs: Sports
- American professional golfer Tiger Woodsclinched his fifth Master title
- India’s HarsheelDani clinched Dutch International badminton title
- Chilean professional tennis playerChristian Garinwon his first ATP title in the final of the US Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston
- Ethiopian runners Gelete Burka and AbrhaMilaw win 2019 Paris Marathon race
5. ICC partners with UNICEF to deliver ‘One Day for Children’ at Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019
| USEFUL INFO |
| ICC Headquarters | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| ICC Chairperson | ShashankManohar |
| ICC CEO | Manu Sawhney |
- Former Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Jose Maria Marin has been banned for life from all football activities by FIFA
| USEFUL INFO |
| FIFA Headquarters | Zurich, Switzerland |
| FIFA President | Gianni Infantino |
- The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has imposed a hefty fine of one lakh seventy-six thousand Euros on Pakistan Hockey Federation
- India’s Bajrang Punia has regained the world number one spot in the men’s 65-kilogram freestyle category
- Chandigarh to host Asian Billiards, Snooker Championships
- Services won their sixth Santosh Trophy title with a 1-0 victory over home side Punjab
Current Affairs: Books
| Author | Books |
| Salman Rushdie | Quichotte |
Current Affairs: Obituaries
| Person | Field |
| Dr SK Shivakumar | Space scientist and Padma-Shri awardee |
| Jerrie Cobb | America’s first female astronaut candidate |
| Alan Garcia | Ex-president of Peru |
| Con de Lange | Scotland all-rounder |
| Rama Sengupta Paul | Mountaineer |
| Amar Pal | Bengali folk singer |