Government launches Central Project Monitoring Unit for e-Vidhan project at Parliament

  • The unit was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Statistics and Programme Implementation, Vijay Goel.
  • The new office of Central Project Monitoring Unit for the e-Vidhan project of the Government is located at the Parliament House Annexe.
  • This was done as a part of Swachhata Pakhwada being observed by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs from April 16th to 30th, 2018.
  • e-Vidhan is a project to digitize and make the functioning of State Legislatures in India paperless.
  • The Government expects the project to contribute to the cleanliness & environment by reducing the use of papers to a great extent.

SJVN, Power Ministry ink MoU to try and achieve 9200 million units in 2018-19

  • SJVN Limited, which runs of one of the largest Hydro Power Plants in the country - the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station - signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Power for the year 2018-19.
  • The MoU was signed by Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Power Secretary at the Ministry of Power, and Nand Lal Sharma, the chairman and managing director of SJVN.
  • As per the agreement, SJVN will strive to achieve 9,200 million units of power generation during the financial year under the Excellent category.

Lance Armstrong settles for $5 million in doping case

  • The United States Postal Service has settled its case with former Tour de France cyclist Lance Armstrong for $5 million.
  • The US Postal Service brought the lawsuit after Armstrong admitted to using performance enhancing drugs, violating sponsorship agreements he had with the agency.
  • Apparently the government demanded $10 million, but a mediator suggested $5 million to settle the case.

India asks UK to pursue action against protesters who tore down Indian flag in London

  • Protester had torn the tricolour in London during Modi’s visit.
  • UK apologised for the incident, giving their regrets for the happening.
  • India expressed its “deep anguish” at the incident, and said that it expect the UK government to take action, even legal measures if needed, against those responsible.

Democratic Party sues Russia, Trump campaign and WikiLeaks alleging disruption in 2016 election

  • The Democratic National Committee filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Russian government, the Trump campaign and the WikiLeaks organisation.
  • The Democratic party has alleged that the far-reaching conspiracy was to disrupt the 2016 campaign and put Donald Trump in power.
  • The complaint was filed in federal district court in Manhattan.
  • It alleges that top Trump campaign officials conspired with the Russian government and its military spy agency to hurt Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and to help Trump by hacking the computer networks of the Democratic Party and disseminating stolen material.

India, Finland settle Nokia tax dispute

  • India and Finland have reached an agreement on the tax dispute with Nokia under the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP).
  • The company’s Chennai plant, which has been idle for more than three years, can now be sold.
  • Apparently, Nokia India has agreed to pay the Rs. 1,600 crore tax demand by the Income Tax Department.

RBI makes Aadhaar key for KYC compliance

  • The RBI amended its ‘know your customer’ (KYC) guidelines, which makes the Aadhaar number crucial for customer due diligence by banks and finance companies.
  • With the changes, sections relating to the use of other “officially valid documents” for address and identity proof have been done away with.
  • The new norms are subject to the final judgment of the Supreme Court on Aadhaar, and it is unclear when they will come into force.

Fuel price spikes on crude oil rise

  • Fuel prices across the country rose to a 55-month high.
  • Diesel price at an all-time high, while petrol is the costliest since September 2013.
  • Global benchmark Brent crude climbed to $74.74 a barrel, the highest it has been since November 27, 2014.