India’s cueist Pankaj Advani defeated Ehsan Heydari Nezhad of Iran 6-4 to win the inaugural Asian Snooker Tour title. It was held in Bengaluru. The Tour was held in three parts and played in Doha (Qatar), Jinan (China) and Bengaluru (India).

China had stopped accepting plastic waste from foreign countries last year. The move has thrown the world recycling sector into chaos.  The ban forced countries like the US and UK to find new ways to deal with their own trash, which has resulted in huge pile-ups of trash in Southeast Asian nations.

The Supreme Court on April 25, 2019 constituted a one-man panel comprising former SC judge, Justice A K Patnaik to hold an inquiry into the allegations of a larger conspiracy to frame Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and fixing of benches in the top court. The top court clarified that the inquiry will not deal with the allegations of sexual harassment against the CJI.

It is reportedly the world’s only floating nuclear power unit. It’s poised to begin commercial operations in Russia. The unit, in the summer, is scheduled to be towed to the Russian port of Pevek.

It is worth mentioning that in 2017, West Bengal government had received the UN award for its ‘Kanyashree’ project.

Dr. Benny Antony, co-founder of Kochi-based Arjuna Natural Ltd, has been conferred with the National Intellectual Property Award for 2019 in the category of Top Individual for Patents and Commercialization. Along with the National IP Award, the Intellectual Property Office India and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) have jointly conferred the ‘WIPO Medal for Inventors’ also to Antony. The Indian Intellectual Property Office bestows National Intellectual Property (IP) awards to outstanding innovators, organisations and companies in the field of patents, designs, trademarks and geographical indications on the occasion of World IP Day every year. Antony is the inventor of the world’s leading patented turmeric extract formulation “BCM-95” and also has over 80 international patents to his credit.

Fitch has predicted GDP growth rate of 6.8% in FY20 for India.

The World Immunization Week 2019 is being observed worldwide between April 24 and April 30 to promote the importance of vaccination and immunization. The Day is initiated by the efforts of World Health Organisation.

 The Russian Navy and People’s Liberation Army Navy will hold joint naval drills “Joint Sea 2019” in Late April -Early May 2019. The drills will be held off the northern port city of Qingdao in China.

The Madras high court on April 24, 2019, lifted the ban on Chinese short-video app ‘TikTok’, three weeks after it had asked the Government to prohibit further downloads of the popular application on Google and Apple app stores.

Actor, producer and screenwriter Salim Khan, who is also the father of superstar Salman Khan, was honoured with the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Lifetime Award.

In Football, the Services lifted the Santosh Trophy, beating Punjab 1-nil in the final at Ludhiana. In the first half, both the teams were goal-less. In the second half, Services scored the lone goal and held on till the final whistle.

 India has rebuilt Chhyoiphel Kundeling Monastery in Nepal. Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche inaugurated newly reconstructed Monastery at Lisankhu village in Sindhupalchok district. Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India Dr. Ajay Kumar was also present on the occasion.

Indian-American scientist and social activist Sree Sreenath has been inducted into the prestigious Cleveland International Hall of fame for his contribution in applications in systems biology, global issues, and sustainable development.

One of the most well known paranormal investigator, Lorraine Warren passed away at the age of 92. She investigated haunted houses and other manifestation of paranormal activities throughout her life with her late husband Ed. Warren.

The Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for serial bombings in Sri Lanka which killed over 310 people and injured about 500 others on Easter, on April 21, 2019. Sri Lankan government had earlier named local Islamist radical group, the National Thowheed Jamaath, as the prime suspect, for the string of eight powerful blasts that shattered a decade of peace in the island nation since the end of the civil war.

On April 24, 2019, the first official International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace was celebrated by the United Nations and the UN General Assembly convened a one-day high-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the day.

Bilkis Bano was gang-raped during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Even several members of her family were killed by a mob at Randhikpur village. The bench was led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.

A leading cultural organisation, Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC), named Michelin-star chef Vikas Khanna as its brand ambassador. The IAAC will present the New York Indian Film Festival. The festival’s center-piece is Photograph, which is directed by Ritesh Batra.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has recently released the report titled ‘The Safety and Health at the Heart of the Future of Work – Building on 100 years of experience’. In it, the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy which killed thousands of people is among the world’s “major industrial accidents” of the 20th century (after 1919). In December 1984, at least 30 tons of methyl isocyanate gas was released from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in the Madhya Pradesh capital and it affected more than 600,000 workers and nearby inhabitants. Apart from the Bhopal gas tragedy, its list included the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion in the erstwhile Soviet Union, the 2011 Fukushima disaster and the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2013, which killed 1,132 people.

Malayalam film Bhayanakam (Fear) directed by Jayaraj has won the best cinematography award at the 2019 Beijing International Film Festival (BIFF). The cinematography was done by Nikihil S Praveen. The film had also won the best cinematography award at the 65th National Film Awards. The film portrays the visits of First World War veteran to a small village in the backwaters of Kerala’s Kuttanand as a postman during the World War-II. He shares with the families the good and bad news of the soldiers who took part in the war. According to Jayaraj, about 600 soldiers from Kerala died during the World War-II. The festival also screened five Indian films, including Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali, Apur Sansar, Aparajito, the romantic comedy Love Per Square Foot, the 2018 Indian romantic comedy and the thriller Ittefaq.