India's promising shuttler, Priyanshu Rajawat clinched the men's singles title at the Orleans Masters, beating Magnus Johannesen of Denmark 21-15, 19-21, 21-16 in the summit clash on Sunday, 9 April.

• This is Rajawat's maiden BWF World Tour title and first Super 300 tournament final appearance.
• His only previous final on the BWF World Tour was at last year's Odisha Open Super 100 event.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL), the distribution arm of Tata Power Co Ltd (Tata Power), entered into an agreement to subscribe to non-convertible debentures for 1.5 billion Indian Rupees (equivalent to $18.2 million) to enhance Delhi’s power distribution.

• Delhi's power distribution enhancement will be done through grid enhancements, and a $2 million grant to partially finance the purchase and integration of a pilot battery energy storage system (BESS).
• The senior secured financing will be used to commission a new 66/11-kilovolt grid, augment and expand transformers, substations, feeder lines, and switching stations, install smart meters, and replace obsolete electrical equipment and meters.

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) recently announced the first bi-monthly monetary policy of FY2023-24.

• RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das revealed that the MPC has unanimously decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.50%. This key lending rate is the rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks.
• Real GDP growth for 2023-24 is projected at 6.5 per cent .

RBI Policy Rates

Policy Repo Rate = 6.50%
Bank Rate =  6.75%
Fixed Reverse Repo Rate =3.35%
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) = 4.50%
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) =18.00%

World Homeopathy Day is observed on April 10 to mark the birth of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy. This alternative form of medicine has been gaining popularity worldwide and is known for its gentle and natural healing approach.

• Homeopathy is an alternative form of medicine based on the principle of “like cures like.”
• The idea is to use a substance that causes symptoms in a healthy person to treat similar symptoms in a sick person.
• Homeopathy aims to treat the entire person and not just the symptoms of an illness. This gentle approach is focused on natural healing and avoiding invasive medical procedures.

The Russian defence ministry has said that a depot containing around 70,000 tonnes of fuel, destroyed near the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia.

• It said, the Russian forces had also destroyed Ukraine army warehouses storing missiles, ammunition and other artillery weapons in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.
• Meanwhile, yesterday, Ukrainian authorities said, at least three people were killed and five others injured after Russian forces struck a residential building in Zaporizhzhia.     

Maharashtra government has announced some stringent rules to combat irregularities in vacant land registration. The state government has submitted payment receipts of vacant land tax or property tax mandatory for registration of assets.

• The Maharashtra government has also made it mandatory the incorporation of the title owner in the adangal copy for agricultural land.
• The move has been taken as it was found that the vacant land owners were not paying taxes on time.
• Henceforth, it is expected the decision would help the state government garner additional revenues in the current fiscal.

Bharat Biotech received the Best Production/Process Development award as part of the Vaccine Industry Excellence (ViE) awards at the World Vaccine Congress 2023, which was held in Washington, DC, from April 3-6.

• Bharat Biotech, headquartered in Hyderabad, was the sole Indian company among the nominees for the VIE awards in multiple categories such as the best clinical trial company, best clinical trial network, best central/specialty laboratory, best contract research organisation, and best production/process development, among others.
• Bharat Biotech is known for developing the world’s first intranasal Covid-19 vaccine, iNcovacc, and its intramuscular vaccine, Covaxin, which is used in India’s public vaccination programme and has also been exported.

To support farmers and enhance their livelihoods, the  state government, led by Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, has launched a new initiative called ‘Sanjeevani’.
With a total livestock population of about 4.41 million, farmers often have to travel to the nearest clinic to avail veterinary services like artificial insemination, vaccination, surgery, and infertility testing. This can result in additional expenses and sometimes lead to livestock succumbing to ailments
due to a lack of timely treatment.

• To address these issues, mobile veterinary clinics will be set up under the ‘Sanjeevani’ project to provide doorstep veterinary services to farmers.
• The Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) has signed an MoU with Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd. (BFIL) for the initiative, which will make all veterinary services available at just a phone call away.
• The integrated call centre will work as a single contact point for different matters concerning livestock healthcare and vaccination programmes.

Jalabala Vaidya, legendary theatre actor and co-founder of the capital’s iconic Akshara Theatre, died in New Delhi on April 9 after a battle with respiratory ailments. She was 86.

• She was born in London to Indian author and freedom fighter Suresh Vaidya and English classical singer Madge Franckeiss.
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• Jalabala Vaidya started out as a journalist, writing for various national newspapers and magazines in Delhi.
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• She was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Tagore Award, the Delhi Natya Sangh Award, the Andhra Pradesh Natya Akademi Honour, Honorary Citizenship of the City of Baltimore, USA, and in February, the Delhi Government’s Varisht Samman for her lifelong contribution to the performing arts.

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Uttar Pradesh has set up a state-of-the-art Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Center (JCBC) for the critically endangered Asian king vulture, the first of its kind in the world.

• It is located in the Maharajganj district of Uttar Pradesh and is spread over 1.5 hectares.
• The JCBC is designed to maintain a sustainable population of Asian king vultures by breeding them in captivity and releasing them into the wild.

India-Japan-Bangladesh will organise a mega meet in Tripura on April 11-12 to put in place connectivity initiatives to harness commercial potential of the region.

• The meet will be attended by Deputy Foreign Ministers of India and Bangladesh besides Chief Minister of Tripura and Japanese envoy to India.
• Officials told ET that greater involvement of Japan will pave the way for industrial value chains, comprehensive connectivity development of Northeast India and Bangladesh.
• Japan is investing in Northeast India and Bangladesh including the deep sea port at Matarbari that will connect the landlocked region with the Bay of Bengal.

India recognizes the important role being played by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) in providing an enabling security environment in Somalia, and in containing the terrorism perpetrated by Al-Shabaab.

• Permanent Representative of India to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj handed over the contribution of US$ 2 million to the United Nations Trust Fund in support of ATMIS.
• India had earlier contributed US $ 4 million to African Union Mission in Somalia [AMISOM].
• ATMIS was established on 1 April 2022 pursuant to the Security Council resolution 2628 (2022) and African Union Peace and Security Council Communique 1068th of 8 March 2022 to support the implementation of the Somali Transitional Plan towards a full handover of security responsibility to the Somali security forces and institutions by the end 2024.
• The primary mandate of ATMIS is to reduce the threat posed by the terrorist group Al-Shabaab.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme has achieved a significant milestone in the financial year ending March 31, 2023.

• The basic bank accounts under the scheme have registered a record surge of ?50,000 crores, with the total balance reaching ?1.99 lakh crore, an increase from ?1.49-lakh crore in the previous financial year.
• Additionally, there has been an addition of 5 crore new accounts under the scheme, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 48.65 crores. 
• The public sector banks are the key drivers of the scheme, holding ?1.55-lakh crore with them as deposits, followed by Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) with ?38,832 crores. Private sector banks hold the remaining deposits.