The last of the six indigenously built Scorpene class submarines had a ceremonious launch on April 20 . The government is yet to decide on the next advanced indigenous submarines in equal numbers. “The sixth and last submarine of the Indian Navy’s Kalvari class submarines of Project-75 has been launched at the Kanhoji Angre Wet Basin of Mazagon Dock Ltd,” said an Indian Navy statement. It is manufactured jointly with France’s Naval Group.

 In keeping with Navy’s traditions, the submarine named ‘Vagsheer’ was launched by Veena Ajay Kumar, wife of Dr Ajay Kumar, Defence Secretary ,who was the chief guest at the ceremony. The submarine will commence working on various equipment and their harbour trials. The crew will thereafter sail for the rigorous ‘sea acceptance trials’ after which the submarine would be delivered to the Navy by late next year. The inclusion of the six submarines comes at a time when most of the 15 conventional submarines with India are more than 25 years old. Over the years, Pakistan and China have been adding strength to their underwater capabilities.

Applauding India for prioritising public investment in its annual budget, the International Monetary Fund has urged the country to prioritise food security and expand transfers to the vulnerable in the wake of the global economic crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine.

Paolo Mauro, Deputy Director, Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF told reporters during a news conference on the sidelines of the annual Spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank that the challenges coming from the economic consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine were "quite sever."

Observing that inflation in India is somewhat elevated, he said that it is a little bit above the comfort zone for the Central Bank, which is already addressing that issue.

On the fiscal front, the budget is approximately neutral, which seems to be sensible at this time, he said in response to a question.

Beyond that, in the budget, one good part of that is that public investment is being prioritised, Mauro said.

Even as the Partygate debate continues back home, Boris Johnson is on a two-day official visit to India with business in mind. His first stop at Ahemdabad on April 21  saw him meeting industrialist Gautam Adani and inaugurating JCB India’s sixth manufacturing plant in Vadodara.

The British Prime Minister is expected to announce commercial deals worth £1 Billion in new investments and export deals in areas from software engineering to health, creating almost 11,000 jobs across the UK.

Around 11,000 new jobs will be created through new India-UK trade and investment deals.

The business where investments/collaborations are to be announced include:

A new Switch Mobility electric bus R&D centre in the UK and the opening of their Asia Pacific Headquarters in Chennai, generating over 1000 jobs in the UK in India.

Investment from leading Indian manufacturer Bharat Forge and electric truck maker Tevva Motors to expand to a new site in the south-east and create 500 new jobs.

Indian software company Mastek investing £79mn to create 1600 jobs over the next three years all over the UK.

Business consultancy FirstSource opening new offices in South Wales, the Midlands and cities in the North-East and North-West and, Hertfordshire-based firm Smith & Nephew agreeing a major export deal to sell robotic surgical systems in India, and Northamptonshire business Scott Bader opening a new resins factory to supply top renewable energy companies in south-east Asia.

Meanwhile, a UK-based satellite communications company OneWebwill signed a contract for satellite launches with New Space India Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

 The UK will confirm major new science and tech collaboration, including a Digital Health partnership and a joint investment fund for Indian deep-tech and AI start-ups, supported by the UK and Indian governments; new AI scholarships for Indian students jointly funded by the UK Government’s Chevening programme and India’s Adani Group; and a £6m investment from AI healthcare specialists Qure-ai to open a Centre of Excellence in the UK.

The commerce ministry will conduct a series of outreach programmes in various cities, including Hyderabad and Mumbai, to promote the recently signed free trade agreements with the UAE and Australia

These programmes are planned to be conducted in cities, including Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Agra. They would be organised in close coordination with the respective state governments.

Officials from trade or industry ministries of the states concerned as well as those from industry associations and export promotion councils will participate in the programmes. The first in the series of programmes would be conducted in Hyderabad on April 23 .

The free trade agreement between India and the UAE is likely to come into effect from May 1 this year, under which domestic exporters of as many as 6,090 goods from sectors like textiles, agriculture, dry fruits, gem and jewellery would get duty-free access to the UAE market.

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed by India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in February which aims to boost bilateral trade to USD 100 billion in the next five years from current USD 60 billion.

Telecom operator Reliance Jio has taken a lead over Bharti Airtel to become the country's second largest fixed-line service provider in February 2022, according to data published by the sector regulator Trai.

Fixed-line or wireline telecommunication refers to telephone and broadband internet services provided through a network of cables.

Reliance Jio wireline subscriber base reached over 58.85 lakh while Bharti Airtel recorded a customer base of more than 57.66 lakh in February, according to subscriber report of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India released on April 20 .

Reliance Jio led the wireline telephony growth by adding 2.44 lakh customers in February. Bharti Airtel came second in the segment by adding 91,243 new users. Vodafone Idea added 24,948 customers, Quadrant 18,622 and Tata Teleservices 3,772.

Reliance Jio is now behind only BSNL which has over 75.76 lakh wireline customers. The government-owned BSNL and MTNL, which jointly have a 49.5 per cent share in the segment, lost 49,074 and 21,900 fixed-line customers, respectively.

A Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete was found dead in her native country , an incident that has revived memories of the killing last year of record-breaking distance runner Agnes Tirop in the same town.

Damaris Muthee Mutua's body was discovered in the world famous running hub of Iten in western Kenya and police said they have launched a manhunt for her Ethiopian boyfriend.

Mutua, 28, competed for Kenya as a junior athlete and won two bronze medals at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore and the East African junior athletics championships in Khartoum, before switching her allegiance to Bahrain.

Q1. Who among the following is the head coach of the  Indian men's national football team ?

1. Igor Stimac
   
2. Tan Kim Her
3. Uwe Hohn
4. Graham Reid
5. None of These

Q2. Name the country which is one of the largest importers of wheat from Ukraine and Russia and which  has approved India as a wheat supplier ?

1. Bangladesh
2. Egypt
3. Mongolia
4. Myanmar
5. None of These

Q3. Name the Tesla CEO  who has offered  to buy Twitter?

1. Satya Nadella
2. Sundar Pichai
3. Garo H. Armen
4. Julie Sweet
5.  None of These

Q4. Who among the following has become  the first woman Director (Finance) of India's top oil and gas producer ONGC

1. Alka Mittal
2. Vartika Shukla
3. Pomila Jaspal
4. Arundhati Bhattacharya
5. None of These

Q5. Name the  Indian-American Navy veteran who  has joined US Vice President Kamala Harris's office as her executive secretary and defence advisor?

1. Shanti Sethi
2. Jenifer Rajkumar
3. Kshama Sawant
4. Swati Dandekar
5. None of These

Answers

1----------------Igor Stimac

2----------------Egypt

3---------------- None of These : Ans   Elon Musk        

4---------------- Pomila Jaspal

5----------------- Shanti Sethi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 19   said India produces milk worth Rs 8.5 lakh crore annually, more than the turnover of wheat and rice, with small farmers being the biggest beneficiaries of the dairy sector.

"Today, India is the world's largest producer of milk. When the livelihood of crores of farmers depend on milk, India produces milk worth Rs 8.5 lakh crore annually, something that many people, including big economists, do not pay attention to," the prime minister said while addressing a gathering at Diyodar in the Banaskantha district after inaugurating a new dairy complex and a potato processing plant of the Banas Dairy.

The new dairy complex and the potato processing plant of Banas Dairy are aimed at empowering local farmers and giving a boost to the rural economy in the region.

The Prime Minister also dedicated to the nation the Banas Community Radio Station and the expanded facilities for the production of cheese products and whey powder at Palanpur, and organic manure and biogas plant established at Dama.