Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India could explore buying Russian crude oil past the price cap imposed by the G-7. Sitharaman told an international wire service in Washington that India has a large population and therefore has to look at prices that are going to be affordable for the country.

The South Asian nation needs to constantly look for the best deal since it imports almost 80% of its crude oil requirements.

Earlier, Indian officials had said that the country was unlikely to breach sanctions on Russia including the price cap.

She added that the unintended consequences of these measures should not be borne by the global south. She also said possible recessions in the US or other developed countries could be a drag on India by hurting exports, particularly manufacturing.

The government has developed a mobile application -- Call Before U Dig mobile application – on the PM Gatishakti National Master Plan platform that allows owners of assets like optical fibre, gas pipelines, water & electricity lines, etc to inform agencies involved in digging and excavation work so that damage to their assets can be minimised.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) claims that the mobile application can avoid Rs 3,000 crore losses every year due to damage to underground assets due to uncoordinated digging and excavation.

Sumita Dawra, special secretary, DPIIT  has explained the use cases of the PM Gatishakti, a GIS-based platform that integrates planning and coordination of infrastructure projects from across several central ministries as well as infra projects of state government.

She said that using the PM GatiShakti NMP, asset owner agencies are mapping their underlying assets with GIS coordinates onto the NMP platform. Using this app, alerts are sent to concerned agencies prior to the commencement of digging works. This facilitates coordinated & synchronized excavation without loss/ damage of utilities.

She also said that the PM Gattishakti platform has been used to saturate 30,000 villages with 4G services.

Anti-doping watchdog National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and even the Sports Authority of India have been advocating no needle policy at national camps across the country. In fact, NADA has been urging national sports federations (NSFs) to adopt such measures that would help curb doping. The Athletics Federation of India has such a policy and had expelled athletes who had syringes and needles in their possession in the past. Other federations, like wrestling, too have such policies.

So it came as a surprise when a few men's freestyle wrestlers, who represented the country at the recently-concluded Asian Championships, apparently had to show invoices for a bunch of needles they were possessing while departing from Astana, Kazakhstan. It is learnt that at least five wrestlers were asked to furnish documents after check-in. Since it was not related to any banned or prohibited substances, the wrestlers were given the clearance to board the flight.

The team comprising men's Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestlers apart from the women grapplers was selected and cleared by the Oversight Committee of the sports ministry for the championships.

Indian Premier League (IPL) has produced many rags-to-riches stories over the years. Ever since its inception in 2008, the league has not only unearthed talents but also made them millionaires with its franchises splashing money on these budding cricketers.

However, it is difficult to come across a story where a youngster, who has yet not made his India debut, decides to give back to the sport which has changed his life forever. Rinku Singh, who plies his trade for Kolkata Knight Riders in the league, is going to set a benchmark in this regard.

The 25-year-old left-hand batter from Uttar Pradesh became the toast of the nation when he hit five consecutive sixes in the last over to fetch an improbable win for his team a few days back. Rinku might not be among the highest-earning cricketers of the IPL but that couldn't deter him from setting up a hostel for upcoming cricketers looking to make it big but somehow couldn't achieve their dreams due to financial constraints.

Jessica Pegula sealed victory for the United States over Austria on Apr 15  as the record 18-time champions secured their place in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

World number three Pegula made quick work of Julia Grabher, winning 6-1, 6-3, to give the heavily favoured Americans an unassailable 3-0 lead over Austria in their tie in Delray Beach, Florida.

The nine qualifying nations are Slovenia, France, the United States, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Spain and Canada.

Q1. The most fertile region of India is

1. the Himalayas
2. the central Highlands
3. the Indo-Gangetic plain
4. peninsular plateau
5. None of These

Q2. Which organ of the government consists of elected representatives of people?

1. Media
2. Judiciary
3. Legislature
4. All options are correct
5. None of These

Q3. Who is the chairmen of National Integration Council?

1. President of India
2. Chief Justice of India
3. Minister of Minority affair
4. Prime Minister of India
5. None of These

Q4. Which of the following is the most important raw material for generation of power in India?

1. Coal
2. Mineral Oil
3. Natural Gas
4. Uranium
5. None of These

Q5. Which metals are used in fuse wire :

1. an alloy of tin and copper
2. an alloy of tin and lead
3. an alloy of tin and aluminium
4. an alloy of nickel and chromium
5. None of These

Answers

1-----------------3  the Indo-Gangetic plain

2-----------------3   Legislature

3-----------------4     Prime Minister of India

4------------------1   Coal

5------------------2   an alloy of tin and lead

In a brazen act of violence, in the presence of Uttar Pradesh police, mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were shot dead while being taken for a medical check-up in Prayagraj  on Apr 15 night.

As per local sources, Atiq and his brother were being taken to the hospital for a medical check-up in a police escort. As they got down from the police van and were talking to media persons in front of the hospital, Atiq was fired by the assailants, who were disguised as media persons, in his head.

Ahmed's son Asad (19) and an accomplice were killed in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13. Asad was also a suspect in the Umesh Pal murder case.

Punjab police have arrested a key aide of radical preacher Amritpal Singh for allegedly providing shelter and other assistance to the absconding Khalistan sympathiser in Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh.

Joga Singh, who is a resident of Ludhiana and is managing a 'dera' in Pilibhit, was coming to Punjab from Haryana.

Earlier, police said two more men have been arrested for allegedly harbouring Amritpal Singh, who has been on the run after police launched a crackdown against him last month.

The arrested men were identified as Rajdeep Singh of Babak village in Hoshiarpur district and Sarbjit Singh of Jalandhar district

The police launched a major crackdown against Amritpal Singh and members of his 'Waris Punjab De' outfit last month.

The Khalistan sympathiser, who is yet to be nabbed, escaped the police's net in the Jalandhar district on March 18, switching vehicles and changing his appearance.