CURRENT AFFAIRS 18TH APRIL 2018

April 18 is celebrated worldwide as World Heritage Day to create awareness about Heritage among communities.
The theme of this year is 'Heritage for Generations'. This theme highlights inter-generational transfer of knowledge.
In India, this day will be celebrated at National Rail Museum, New Delhi.
UNESCO designated total 36 world heritage sites in India and established 18 April as International Day for Monuments and Sites in 1983.

MoU was signed between the Groupement des Industries Françaises Aeronautiques et Spatiales (GIFAS), France and the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), India for promotion of sustainable framework for present and future partnerships as well as cooperative actions between the French aerospace industry and the Indian defence industry.
Pierre Bourlot, managing director of GIFAS and Lt Gen Subrata Saha, director general of SIDM signed the MoU.
This agreement will help in expanding trade through better economic and industrial cooperation between France and India.

Yes Bank launched ‘YES GST’, an OD (over draft) facility for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Through this, an MSME can avail OD up to Rs. 1 crore based on their annual turnover backed by GST returns.
MSME can avail this OD facility against contract of residential or commercial property.

Under the ‘Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra Yojana’, a special pilgrimage train for senior citizens has been flagged off from Sambalpur station by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
This train will take senior citizens to Shirdi, Nasik and Trimbakeshwar during the seven-day tour.
The Odisha government signed MoU with the IRCTC for this pilgrimage plan.

Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha launched DARPAN (Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for a New India)-PLI (Postal Life Insurance) app that will help in collection of premium for Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) policies at Branch Post Offices with online updation.
With the help of this, indexing of maturity claims in respect of PLI and RPLI policies can be done at Branch Post Office.
The purpose of launch of this app is to connect all 1.29 lakh rural branch post offices in the country to enable them to do online Postal and Financial Transactions.

Aditi Rao Hydari will receive Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award 2018 for the Best Leading Lady (Critics Award) for her memorable performance in Bhoomi.
The award ceremony will held at St. Andrews Auditorium in Mumbai.
The movie was about the protective father who saved his daughter from all the evils around her. The film also starred Sanjay Dutt.

Kendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize as the first non-classical or jazz artist for music
The 30-year-old won the prize for ‘DAMN’, his raw and powerful Grammy-winning album.
Previous Pulitzer music winners include jazz musicians Wynton Marsalis and Ornette Coleman.
He also produced the soundtrack for the 2018 superhero box-office hit film “Black Panther,” and performed the lead single “Pray For Me” with The Weeknd.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated a 2.5-km-long bridge 'Ib Setu', built over the Ib River in Sambalpur district.
This is Odisha’s second longest bridge, built at a cost of Rs. 117.50 crore.
The bridge has enabled direct road connectivity between Sambalpur and Brajarajnagar in Jharsuguda district and the distance has been reduced to 50 km.

Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull won Chinese Grand Prix to claim the sixth victory of his Formula One career.
Bottas finished second and Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari was third.
Sebastian Vettel leads the season standings with 54 points in three races.
Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and improved his season points total to 43.
Bottas has 40 points in third place heading into the next race in Azerbaijan.

Lieutenant General PP Malhotra became Director General of National Cadet Corps (NCC), the largest uniformed youth organization in the world.
He has been the Chief Engineer of the Army’s premier Northern Command.

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