April 22nd was Earth Day: What you need to know

  • Earth Day is held every year on April 22, and it was first celebrated in 1970.
  • Earth Day is a day to honour the planet that we depend upon and the concept of peace.
  • It was proposed by peace activist John McConnell at the 1969 UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. He was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work.
  • On April 22, across the world various events are held to help spread the message to protect the environment.

TCS becomes India’s first $100 billion IT company

  • TCS created history by becoming the first Indian listed company to hit the coveted $100 billion m-cap figure.
  • On April 23, the company’s market value was pegged at Rs. 6,62,726.36 crore.
  • The Firday previous, the company had added about Rs. 40,000 crore tpo its valuation and was on the cusp of breaking the $100 billion figure.
  • The shares of the IT company were trading 4% above previous closing mark at Rs. 3,545 on the BSE, which is an all-time high.

Madras High Court is first south Indian court to introduce e-court fee payment facility

  • The Madras High Court introduced the e-court fee payment facility, through which litigants and lawyers can purchase court fee stamps online.
  • It is the first court in south India and the 8th in India to do so.
  • Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Chief Justice Indira Banerjee jointly launched the facility.
  • The facility will be introduced to the districts courts in a phased manner.

Researchers discover potent molecule to treat chikungunya

  • A team of researchers at IIT Roorkee have developed a molecule that can fight against the chikungunya virus.
  • The antiviral activity was so high that the small molecule was able to achieve almost 99% reduction in the virus when even just 5 microMolar was used.

President Ram Nath Kovind agrees to Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance

  • The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, approved the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance 2018.
  • The ordinance allows the government to seize the domestic assets of those deemed by a relevant court to be fugitive economic offenders.
  • The move is targeted at deterring economic offenders who escape the country to avoid being held responsible by Indian courts.
  • The law aims at quickly recovering losses in cases of frauds.

CBSE makes health and physical education mandatory for students of class 9 to 12

  • The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has drawn up new guidelines, making it mandatory for students of Classes 9 to 12 to have health and physical education.
  • The CBSE has proposed a daily sports period to prevent students from leading sedentary lives and turning into couch potatoes.
  • The students will have to leave the class and go to the playground during the mandatory sports period.
  • They will be free to perform any physical activity that has been listed in the manual, and they will be graded based on how they perform.

Sitaram Yechury re-elected as CPM general secretary

  • The Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM, has re-elected Sitaram Yechury as its general secretary.
  • The decision to re-elect Yechury came after months of internal warring and was decided through a show of hands in the newly-elected 95-member central committee.
  • Yechury has pledged to work to defeat the BJP and RSS.

Civil Aviation Ministry: Air India has cash deficit of Rs. 250 crore every month

  • Air India is facing a monthly cash deficit of Rs. 200-250 crore, as per the admission of the civil aviation ministry.
  • Due to this, the carrier is unable to purchase all the spares it needs, and so it has many aircraft not in use.
  • This has happened even though there is a turnaround plan (TAP) in place since 2011.

Iran Nuclear Deal: Macron urges Trump to stand by 2015 accord

  • French President Emmanuel Macron has beseeched USA President Donald Trump to stick with the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers as long as there is no better option.
  • Macron said that he had no “Plan B” for the nuclear deal.
  • US president Trump does not like the deal, which provides Iran with relief from sanctions if the nation curbs its atomic programme.
  • Trump has set a May 19 deadline to either improve or scrap this accord, providing Iran with relief.