United Nation’s COP 26 climate change summit due to take place in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November 2020 has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Dates for a rescheduled conference in 2021 would be announced later.
Some 30,000 people, including 200 world leaders, had been due to attend the 10-day conference for crucial talks to halt rising global temperatures.

The RBI has constituted an advisory committee chaired by Sudhir Shrivastava to review the WMA limits for state government &Union Territories(UT), it has been decided to increase the WMA limit by 30% from the current limit (Rs 1.20 lakh crore) for all states & UTs which is effective from April 1, 2020 & is valid till September 30, 2020.

Yokohama-headquartered Nissan Motor Company Ltd has appointed Guillaume Cartier as senior vice president and the new chairman for Africa, Middle East and India markets.

RBI extended the deadline for realization and repatriation period of export which is made up to or on 31 July. The period of export has been relaxed for up to 15 months from 9 months (at present).

‘The Wizenard Series: Season One’ is a young adult novel that has been co-authored by late National Basketball Association(NBA) star Kobe Bryant in association with Wesley King. Wesley King is known for bringing superhuman strengths into his teenage stories and has won the Edgar Award for his book OCDaniel.

The state government of Andhra Pradesh has recently issued modified guidelines in the Navaratnalu – Pedalandariki Illu (houses for all the poor) scheme, under which 25 lakh house sites are to be distributed at concessional rates to the poor.
As per the recent order, the house sites will be allotted at a concessional rate of ₹1 for the beneficiaries with white ration cards. A sum of only ₹ 20 will be collected from them towards cost of stamp paper and lamination charges. The distribution is also postponed to April 14, from March 25.

Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr. Jitendra Singh launched DARPG’s National Monitoring Dashboard on COVID-19 Grievances. The National Monitoring Dashboard was developed and implemented at https://darpg.gov.in where COVID-19 related grievances are monitored on priority basis by a technical team of DARPG.

The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir became the 12th State on 1 April 2020 where the Price Monitoring & Resource Unit (PMRU) has been established by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). Eleven states of India that are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh already have PMRUs. The PMRU is a registered society and will operate directly under the control and supervision of the State Drug Controller of Jammu & Kashmir.

The World Bank has offered USD 1 billion to India for the proposed a 4-year COVID-19 emergency response & health systems preparedness project which aims to develop the preparedness of India’s health care systems in the time of the pandemic & also to respond and mitigate the pandemic.

World Autism Awareness Day is observed globally on 2 April every year.
This day is observed to highlight the need to improve the quality of life of those with autism so they can lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society.
The first World Autism Day was observed in 2008 on April 2.
The theme for the year 2020 is ‘The Transition to Adulthood’.

SpaceX released a Users Guide for its giant Starship rocket. The document will provide a short overview of the rocket that is designed to transport people, payloads, satellites, and cargo to a variety of orbits and Earth, Lunar, or Martian landing sites.

The Dominican Republic took over the rotational Presidency of the United Nations Security Council in April 2020, succeeding China, which had held the position in March

The Indian state of Odisha was formed on 1st April 1936. Its statehood day is called as ‘Utkal Divas’, which is celebrated in the state and across the country.
On the memory of the formation of Odisha as a separate state from the earlier Bihar and Orissa province, the day has been celebrated. Due to the nation-wide lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, there were no prominent celebrations in the state.

The legendary historian and educationist, Professor Arjun Dev passed away. He was born on November 12, 1938, in Leiah, West Punjab (now in Pakistan). He served as a historian at the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT).

Private sector lender ICICI Bank has rolled out banking facilities on WhatsApp.

This will enable its retail customers to undertake a slew of banking requirements from their home at a time when they are advised to stay indoors in the wake of the nationwide lockdown to fight against coronavirus,  it stated.

International Transgender Day of Visibility observed globally on 31st March every year.
The day is dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, as well as a celebration of their contributions to society.
The day was founded by US-based transgender activist Rachel Crandall of Michigan in 2009.

HDFC Trustee Company Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC), has acquired 3.4 crore shares or 5.45% stake in Indian low-cost airline SpiceJet.

In Madhya Pradesh, a unique radio school has been started to mitigate the impact of Coronavirus outbreak.
Under Radio School, all the centres of All India Radio in Madhya Pradesh will be broadcasting programs from Monday to Saturday from 11 am to 12 pm.
The Radio School is being started by the State Education Center with the help of AIR

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 2nd Extraordinary G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting. It was hosted under the Chairmanship of Saudi Arabian on 31 March. The Ministers discussed the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy and coordinate efforts in response to this global challenge.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) surpassed TCS to become the most valued domestic firm by market capitalisation.

The market capitalisation (m-cap) of RIL was Rs 7,05,211.81 crore, which was Rs 21,133.32 crore more than that of Tata Consultancy Services’ Rs 6,84,078.49 crore valuation on the BSE.

The Economist, civil servant & Deputy Chairman of the Indian Planning Commission, with the rank of Cabinet Minister, from July 2004 to May 2014 & Padma Vibhushan awardee(2011) Montek Singh Ahluwalia authored a book titled ‘Backstage: The Story Behind India’s High Growth Years’ which captures the essence of policymaking between 1985 and 2014.

Ministry of Tourism has launched the ‘Stranded in India’ web portal which is aimed at helping the foreign tourists stuck in India due to the 21-day lockdown done to contain the spread of COVID19 pandemic.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday hiked the limit for foreign portfolio investors’ (FPI) investment in corporate bonds to 15 per cent of outstanding stock for FY2020-21

Sections 269 & 270 IPC are being invoked against persons who malignantly do any act which is likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life.
While Section 269 provides for a jail term of six months and/or fine, Section 270 provides for a jail term of two years and/or fine.
In Section 270, the word ‘malignantly’ indicates a deliberate intention on the part of the accused.

As per the recent merger, United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has been merged into Punjab National Bank. The merger came into effect on 1 April 2020.

India’s 1st pre-paid card ‘Enkasu’ which means ‘My cash’ in Tamil has been launched in Karur, Tamil Nadu under the Quit cash movement. The card works based on Near Field Communication Technology (NFC) and can be used for small payments starting from an amount of Rs. 1 using the ‘tap & go’ payment feature, hence doing away with the need for cash & small change.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement to lend up to $60 million to Aavas Financiers Ltd , a housing finance company in India, to improve access to housing finance for lower-income borrowers, particularly women.

Spanish Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Parma has become the first royal to pass away due to Covid-19 complications who was born on July 28, 1933 and studied in France and became a professor at Paris’ Sorbonne as well as a professor of Sociology at Madrid’s Complutense University. She was known for her outspoken views and activist work, which led to her nickname the “Red Princess.”

NASA has launched SunRISE mission to study the giant solar particle storms that impact the solar system. The mission will include six CubeSats, which will operate as a large radio telescope.

The Department of Science and Technology has released Rs. 1 Crore to an incubatee firm called Science and Technology park also called as Scitech park.
The Pune-based Scitech park has developed a novel air-purifying technology, which is expected to be used during the ongoing response of the country against Covid-19. The production of the new purifier called ‘Scitech Airon’ is to be scaled up and 1000 units will be soon installed in hospitals.