Top Current Affairs 18 and 19 April 2022

Top Current Affairs 18 and 19 April 2022

This post contains the current affairs for 18 & 19 April 2022. These current affairs are important for banking exams, insurance exams and other competitive exams like IBPS PO and Clerk, SBI PO and Clerk, RBI Assistant and Grade B, etc. You can also attempt our Current Affairs Quiz after reading our daily current affairs.

National

BRO to construct world’s highest tunnel at Shinku La Pass connecting Himachal Pradesh to Ladakh

• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) will construct the world’s highest tunnel connecting Himachal Pradesh to Zanskar Valley in Ladakh.
• The tunnel will be constructed by BRO at Shinku La Pass at 16,580 feet.
• BRO will execute this ambitious project under ‘Project Yojak’ . This tunnel is proposed to be completed by 2025.

International

World Bank Report States Extreme Poverty in India Decline by 12.3% between 2011-2019

• The extreme poverty rate in India fell from 22.5% in 2011 to 10.2% in 2019 as per World Bank Policy Research Working Paper.
• This represents a decline of 12.3 percentage points in extreme poverty count between 2011 to 2019 in the country.
• The decline in rural areas was much higher than in urban areas.
• While the reduction in rural poverty dropped by 14.7 percentage points, the poverty in urban areas dropped by 7.9 percentage points.
• The paper titled ‘Poverty has Declined over the last decade But Not As Much As Previously Thought’ was jointly authored by economists Sutirtha Sinha Roy and Roy van der Weide.

Appointment

India Elected to Four UN ECOSOC Bodies

• India has been elected to four key United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN-ECOSOC) Bodies in April 2022.
• These bodies include:
  1. Commission for Social Development,
  2. Committee on NGOs,
  3. Commission on Science & Technology for Development
  4. Ambassador Preeti Saran has been re-elected to Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
• Apart from this, India has contributed US$ 200,000 to UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes by Da’esh/ ISIL (UNITAD).
• The contribution will be used to support the two areas of  UNITAD’s investigations, which are: Development and use of chemical and biological weapons by ISIL and ISIL crimes against cultural heritage in Iraq.

Lt Gen Manoj Pande named as India’s next Chief of Army Staff

• Lieutenant General Manoj Pande has been appointed as the next Chief of Army Staff.
• Lt Gen Pande is the incumbent Vice-Chief of the Army.
• He will take over from General MM Naravane, who is set to retire on April 30, 2022.
• Lt Gen Manoj Pande is the first-ever officer from the Corps of Engineer to be appointed as Army Chief.

Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi steps down as President of Yemen

• The President of Yemen, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi has stepped down from his position under pressure from Saudi Arabia.
• Hadi has also handed over his power to the newly created presidential council, which consists of eight political leaders led by Rashad al-Alimi.
• He had served as the president of Yemen from 2012 until 2022.

Sports

New Zealand Pace Bowler Hamish Bennett announces retirement from all forms of cricket

• New Zealand pacer Hamish Bennett has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket ending his 17-year old career.
• Bennett has represented New Zealand national team in 31 matches across all formats, taking 43 wickets.
• He was also selected in the Blackcaps’ squad for the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

Haryana beat Tamil Nadu to win 12th Senior Men’s National Hockey Championship

• Haryana has emerged as the champions of the 12th Senior Men’s National Hockey Championship by defeating Tamil Nadu 3-1 in the shootout after the final ended 1-1 in the regulation time.
• The tournament was held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh from April 6 to 17, 2022.
• Haryana has won the trophy for the first time since 2011.

Days

International Day For Monuments and Sites 2022: 18 April

• The International Day for Monuments and Sites (World Heritage Day) is observed on 18 April each year to promote awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage of humanity, their vulnerability and the efforts required for their protection and conservation.
• The International Day for Monuments and Sites was proposed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) on 18 April 1982 and approved by the General Assembly of UNESCO in 1983.
• Theme 2022 – ‘Heritage and Climate‘

World Liver Day 2022: 19 April

• The World Liver Day is observed on 19 April annually to spread awareness about causes of liver disease and tips for its prevention so as to take holistic care of liver.
• The liver is the second largest and the second most complex organ in the body, after the brain.

Obituary

Noted Odia singer and musician Prafulla Kar passes away at 83

• Popular Odia singer and music director Prafulla Kar has passed away following age-related ailments.
• He was 83.
• Kar was an eminent musician, singer, lyricist, writer and columnist.
• He received the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2015.