In a significant political development, former Chief Minister and present state Congress president Kamal Nath has stepped down as the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in Madhya Pradesh -- where assembly polls are slated in November 2023.

The Congress national president Sonia Gandhi accepted Nath's resignation from the CLP leader's post, which he had been holding since December 2018, when the Congress under his leadership returned to power after 15 years in the central Indian state.

The party also approved the appointment of another party veteran -- former CM Digvijaya Singh's loyalist and ex-minister Dr Govind Singh -- as the new CLP Leader.

Singh, the seven-time sitting MLA from Lahar seat of Bhind district, has held key portfolios in past Congress governments in the state headed by Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath. 

Prince Andrew has lost another ceremonial honour as groups throughout Britain cut ties to the royal disgraced by allegations of sexual misconduct.

The council in the northern city of York  has voted unanimously to withdraw the prince’s “freedom of the city.″ The honour was awarded to Andrew in 1987 after Queen Elizabeth II made him the Duke of York.

Andrew is the first person to be stripped of the status, a purely ceremonial honour that dates back to medieval times when “freemen″ enjoyed special privileges. Honorees include the actress Judi Dench and Princess Anne, Andrew’s sister.

Andrew was stripped of his honorary military roles in January amid the furore surrounding a lawsuit alleging he had sex with a 17-year-old girl and fears that the scandal would taint the House of Windsor. The queen also removed his honorary leadership of various charities, known as royal patronages, and barred him from using the title “his royal highness” in official settings.

Andrew later settled the lawsuit and agreed to pay his accuser an undisclosed sum that the British media has suggested could be as much as 12 million pounds ($15 million). He denies the allegations.

York City Councilor Darryl Smalley said the city was just following the example set by the queen in removing Andrew’s titles.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay an official visit to Germany, Denmark and France from May 2nd to 4th. This will be the PM’s first international visit in 2022.

His first stop will be Berlin, where he will hold bilateral talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The two leaders will co-chair the sixth edition of the India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC).

PM Modi and Chancellor Scholz would also jointly address a business event. Besides, PM Modi is expected to interact with the Indian community in Germany.

The PM’s next stop will be Copenhagen which he is visiting on the invitation of the PM of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen. PM Modi is also taking part in the 2nd India-Nordic Summit, hosted by Denmark.

Other Nordic leaders attending the summit include Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir of Iceland, Prime Minister Jonas GahrStøre of Norway, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden and Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland. The summit will focus on subjects like post-pandemic economic recovery, climate change, innovation and technology, renewable energy, the evolving global security scenario and India-Nordic cooperation in the Arctic region. The 1st India-Nordic Summit took place in 2018 in Stockholm.

PM Modi will also get to meet Queen Margrethe II.

During the last day of his trip, PM Modi will meet newly re-elected President of France, Emmanuel Macron. India and France are celebrating 75 years of their diplomatic relations this year and the meeting between the two leaders will initiate a more aggressive agenda for the strategic partnership between India and France.

In what could be Tata Group’s first move to consolidate its airline operations, Air India, which was recently acquired by the conglomerate, has proposed to buy the no-frills carrier AirAsia India’s entire stake.

Tata Sons owns 83.67% stake in AirAsia India and the remaining stake is with AirAsia Investment Ltd (AAIL), which is part of Malaysia’s AirAsia Group. Tata is expected to buy the remaining 16.33% stake and take full ownership of the airline. Besides, Tata operates the full-service airline Vistara in a joint venture with Singapore Airlines.

Tata owns 51% stake in Vistara while the remaining 49% is owned by Singapore Airline. There are wide speculations in the market Vistara would also be integrated in future. Deals beyond a certain threshold needs the approval of CCI, the regulator that curbs anti-competitive practices.

As per the notice filed with the CCI, Air India said the proposed combination will not lead to any change in the competitive landscape or cause any adverse effect on competition in India, irrespective of the manner in which the relevant markets are defined. However, the combination will lead to overlaps in operations in certain markets.

Full service carrier Air India (AIL) and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express were acquired by Talace, a subsidiary of Tata Sons, in December last year for Rs 18,000 crore.

Tata’s acqisition bid in aviation space

Tata Sons owns 83.67% stake in AirAsia India and the remaining stake is with AirAsia Investment Ltd (AAIL), which is part of Malaysia’s AirAsia Group. Tata also owns 51% stake in Vistara.

Steel Minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh has dedicated JSPL's 1.4 MTPA TMT rebar mill located at the steel unit to the nation.

The rebar mill is one of the world's largest rebar making units and the only producer of 50 mm width TMTs in India, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) said in a statement.

The ultra-modern rebar mill of 1.4 MTPA (million tonne per annum) capacity is located at JSPL's 6 MTPA plant in Angul, Odisha. The minister also visited JSPL's 2 MTPA coal gasification plant (CGP) located within the steel unit.

JSPL is the only company in India which is using coal gasification technology to produce steel at its plant in Angul. The coal gasification plant is equipped with carbon capture technology. It captures approximately 2,000 tonnes of CO2 per day, helping reduce carbon footprint significantly.

State-run Bank of Maharashtra said its net profit for the March quarter more than doubled to Rs 355 crore from Rs 165 crore a year ago on improved loan sales and asset quality leading to lower provisioning and better cost-to-income ratio.

For the full year to March, the Pune-based lender saw its net profit rising two-fold to Rs 1,152 crore as against Rs 550 crore in FY21.

The bank saw a massive improvement in overall asset quality with fresh slippages at Rs 728 crore matching the recoveries at the same amount in the year.

Its gross NPAs nearly halved to 3.94 per cent from 7.23 per cent in March 2021 quarter, and from 4.73 per cent in December 2021, while net NPAs more than halved to 0.97 per cent from 2.48 per cent in March 2021 and from 1.24 per cent in December 2021.

This led to the bank making lower provisions which plunged 73 per cent to Rs 365 crore on year from Rs 1,341 crore and from Rs 836 crore in the December quarter, down 56 per cent.

While total business grew 19.84 per cent to Rs 3,37,534 crore, gross advances grew 25.62 per cent to Rs 1,35,240 crore in Q4 as against Rs 1,07,654 crore in Q4FY21 and net advances rose 28.09 per cent to Rs 1,31,170 crore and total deposits rose 16.26 per cent to Rs 2,02,294 crore of which the low-cost Casa stood at 57.85 per cent.

Young pace sensation Umran Malik says he would want to cross the 155kmph speed mark one day but his main focus remains on bowling at the right areas as he claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in the IPL .

The 22-year-old from Jammu took Sunrisers Hyderabad on the verge of a win with figures of 5/25 before Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan pulled off a heist for Gujarat Titans by hitting four sixes in the final over to win the match by five wickets.

Though his efforts went for a losing cause, Umran has rightly adjudged the player of the match for his fiery spell of fast bowling, one of the finest in IPL history.

Asked if he still fancies touching the 155kmph mark, he said: "I just want to bowl at the right areas and good wickets and if I have to bowl above 155mph, God willing, I will do one day."

Malik has been clocking in excess of 150 kmph consistently throughout the season and has picked up 15 wickets in eight matches at 15.93 average.

Q1. Which among the following is the India's largest life insurer ?

1. PNB MetLife Insurance
2. Reliance Life Insurance
3. Life Insurance Corporation of India
4. Max Life Insurance
5. None of These

Q2. Name the company which on April 27 has  became the first Indian company to hit the Rs 19 lakh crore market valuation mark following a rally in its share price?

1. TATA Consultancy Services
2. HDFC Bank
3. Reliance Industries
4. Infosys
5. None of These

Q3. Who has been appointed as the new  foreign minister of Pakistan ?

1. Hina Rabbani Khar
2. Sherry Rehman
3. Marriyum Aurangzeb
4. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
5. None of These

Q4. Name the  Union Environment Minister who has said on April 27 that India is not a part of the greenhouse gas emissions problem but it will be a big part of the solution to climate change ?

1. Bhupender Yadav
2. Amit Shah
3. Rajnath Singh
4. Nitin Jairam Gadkari
5. None of These

Q5. Name the India’s biggest Central Armed Police Force which has approved the deputation of Army’s Lieutenant Colonels into the force ?

1. Assam Rifles (AR)
2. Border Security Force (BSF)
3. Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)
4. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
5. None of These

Answers

1----------------Life Insurance Corporation of India

2-----------------  Reliance Industries

3------------------    Bilawal Bhutto Zardari   

4------------------Bhupender Yadav

5----------------- Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)