Places in News - 2018

• New Delhi government announced to setup Sanskrit Education council
• Olympics
• 2018 winter Olympics- Pyeongchang (South Korea)
• 2020 Summer Olympics- Tokyo (Japan)
• 2022 winter Olympics- China (Beijing)
• 2024 summer Olympics-France (Paris)
• India’s first Aviation Multi Skill Development centre was launched at Chandigarh
• China elected as Vice president of Financial Action Task Force
• India, Russia, Bangladesh sign pact for Rooppur atomic plant in Bangladesh
• Attukal Pongala festival is the largest congregation of women for a festival in the world was celebrated in Kerala
• Government approved to create 8 safe cities under Nirbhya fund. 8 safe cities are: Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Lucknow
• The Haryana government approved a proposal to enact a law providing for capital punishment to those found guilty of sexually abusing girls aged 12 years
• Shakti stala solar park which is located in Pavagada region in Tumkur district of Karnataka was launched. It is the world’s largest solar park
• Vesak is a religious and cultural festival in Sri Lanka. It is celebrated on the day of the full moon in the month of May
• As part of ongoing Indo-Malaysian defence cooperation, a joint training exercise HARIMAU SHAKTI will be conducted in the dense forests of Sengai Perdik, Hulu Langat, Malaysia
• Bengal has been adjudged the best State in the country in the prevention of parent-to-child transmission of HIV
• India’s first mega coastal economic zone (CEZ) will come up at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra
• DalmiaBharat Becomes the first corporate to sign a MOU under the Government’s “Adopt a Heritage” project
• Maharashtra became the first state to provide digitally-signed land record receipts (also known as 7/12 receipts).
• Nuakhai or Nuankhai is an agricultural festival mainly observed by people of Western Odisha in India.
• Sagar Kavach' coastal security exercise was held in Kerala
• Israel has launched its first environmental research satellite named as Venus (Vegetation and Environment Monitoring New Micro-Satellite).
• Sri Lanka allowed India to jointly develop the Trincomalee port (oil tanks farm) in north-eastern part of the country
• The Indian government plan to set up and develop its first overseas military base at Assumption Island in the Seychelles
• The Madras High Court became the first court in south India and eighth in the country to introduce e-court fee payment facility
• Gobindobhog rice,a speciality from Burdwan district of West Bengal, has got the geographical indication (GI) status.
• India- South Africa Business Summit was held in Johanesburg
• In Mauritius, India signed an MoU for the “improvement in sea and air transportation facilities” at Agalega island
• The next (15th) Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in the holy city of Varanasi
• Home ministry has decided to relax the six-decade-old Protected Area Permit regime from Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur for five years
• For the conservation of Indus dolphins - one of the world's rarest mammals - the Punjab government along with WWF-India are conducting the first organised census on their population
• The Indian and French navies are conducting the third and last phase of the 2018 Varuna naval exercise, from 1st to 7th of May, in the vicinity of Reunion Island
• Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, has launched the GOBAR (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources) – DHAN scheme at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) Auditorium, Karnal
• Nathu La is a mountain pass in the Himalayas in East Sikkim district. Recently bilateral trade between India and China through Nathu La border has resumed.
• The AVIC AG600, code named Kunlong also known as TA-600, is the largest amphibious aircraft currently flying. It is designed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).
• Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS) is located in Sarnatah
• 16thInternational Energy Forum (IEF) Ministerial was held in New Delhi
• 8th Theatre Olympics, the biggest international theatre festival held in India
• Ramthal Marola project, the largest drip irrigation project in Asia, has been commissioned. The project, which has been executed by Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd, is in Bhagalkot district of Karnataka
• The first meeting of Newly constituted NITI Forum for North East will be held in Agartala, The meeting will be chaired by the Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, Rajeev Kumar
• North Korea announced that it will suspend nuclear and missile tests and dismantle the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the northeastern province.
• The first meeting of the BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was held in the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings on 19th April, 2018 in Washington D.C.
• World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS 2018) was held in New Delhi
• The 6th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) and Conclave of Chiefs was hosted by Iran at Tehran
• Peace mission-2018 will take place in Ural Mountains of Russia with an aim to enhance counter-terror cooperation among the eight SCO member countries
• A new plant species named Drypetes kalamii have identified from Buxa and Jaldapara National Parks in West Bengal
• New Delhi becomes the first city to compensate consumers for unscheduled power cuts
• Central Government has declared Digambarpur gram panchayat of West Bengal in South 24 Parganas district as the best panchayat in the country
• The SME International Convention – 2018 was organised by the Ministry of MSME and National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) along with KVIC and Coir Board with the theme Business beyond Borders.
• New Zealand banned all new offshore oil exploration
• The 29th Arab League Summit 2018 was held in Dahran, Saudi Arabia
• Eminent Gujarati poet Sitanshu Yashaschandra's poetry collection "Vakhar" has been chosen for the Saraswati Samman for 2017
• 'Star Khel Mahakumbh' was launched at Himachal Pardesh
• Shigmo or Shishirotsava is a spring festival celebrated in the Indian state of Goa
• 11th World Hindi Conference will be held in Mauritius
• Coasts of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are two identified areas for development of offshore wind power in India.
• Kerala becomes the first Indian state to adopt a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for determining brain death cases
• Chhattisgarh bagged the 'State of the Year' Award under the 'business leader' category as part of the India Business Leadership for the remarkable increase in business and services activities in various sectors.
• First international conference on ‘Water, Environment and Climate Change was held in Kathmandu
• IIT-Delhi launched India’s first 5-G lab
• On the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a Health and Wellness Centre, to mark the launch of the Union Government’s ambitious Health Assurance Programme – Ayushman Bharat. The Centre was inaugurated at Jangla Development Hub, in the aspirational district of Bijapur in Chhattisgarh.
• A law ensuring women are paid an equal wage to their male colleagues was approvedby the UAE Cabinet
• International Conference on Human Rights in South Asia was held in Kathmandu
• The Eighth Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific being jointly organised by Union of ministry of housing and urban affairs and government of Madhya Pradesh was held in Indore
• Maharatsra became the first state in India to bring a law making social boycott a crime
• 4th edition of ‘Vibrant North East 2018’ was held in Guwahati
• In Patna to mark the centenary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran Satyagraha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off India's first all-electric superfast train and gave a boost to the Clean India mission
• Norway topped the list of having the world’s freest press. India’s ranking has fallen two places to 138th position in a ranking of 180 countries
• Biashaki festival is celebrated in Punjab to mark the foundation of Khalsa system.
• 12th edition of the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF) meeting was held in Pune
• The Commonwealth countries at the end of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London have adopted Commonwealth Cyber Declaration to take action on cyber security by 2020
• The Haryana government has come up with Water ATM Policy to provide clean drinking water to people at public places in cities
• Australia stood first in the medal tally in Common Wealth Games-2018
• Chhattisgarh State bagged the National ‘Water Digest Award’ for Water Conservation-Diversion and for increasing the irrigation capacity in the State
• Haryana became the first state in the country to launch High Risk Pregnancy (HRP) Portal
• UK formally joined the International Solar Alliance at a joint event titled “Financing the Green Revolution” organised at the London Stock Exchange by the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group
• State of Madhya Pradesh was conferred the award for the Most Film Friendly State.
• State of Uttarakhand is given a Special Mention Certificate to recognize the efforts made by the State of Uttarakhand towards creating a film friendly environment.
• Haryana became the first state to operationalise the Mahila Police Volunteers scheme
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the ₹6,808-crore Zojila Tunnel project in Jammu and Kashmir that will provide year-round connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh when completed.
• Lohri is a popular winter time Punjabi folk festival, celebrated primarily by Sikhs and Hindus from the Punjab region of Indian subcontinent
• Mizoram state governments launched ‘Go To Village’ Mission
• Asia Media Summit-2018 was held in New Delhi
• Prime Minister had inaugurated the first 'Health and Wellness Centre' under Ayushman Bharat, in the aspirational district of Bijapur in Chhattisgarh