1) Govt sets up inter-ministerial panel to monitor UDAN
•The government has set up an 'Inter-Ministerial Committee' to monitor the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) which seeks to make flying affordable by connecting unserved and under-served airports.
•Chaired by Civil Aviation Secretary Shri Rajiv Nayan Choubey, the ‘Inter-Ministerial Monitoring-cum-Coordination Committee’ would have representations from the ministries of finance, defence, home as well as petroleum and natural gas.
•The Civil Aviation Ministry has already awarded 128 routes connecting 70 airports to five airlines, including SpiceJet and an Air India subsidiary, under the scheme UDAN.
2) National Hindi Sevi Samman Awards announced
•Central Hindi Institute Director N.K. Pandey announced the names of writers from different categories for the prestigious Hindi Sevi Samman Awards.
•The awardees will receive Rs 5 lakh each, a citation and a shawl from President Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in May 2017.
•The Ganesh Shankar Vidhyarthi Award for Hindi journalism will be awarded to Rahul Dev and Baldev Bhai Sharma.
•Professor S. Shesharatnam (Andhra Pradesh), M. Govind Rajan (Tamil Nadu), Harmahendra Singh Bedi (Punjab) and H. Subadani Devi (Manipur) have been selected from non-Hindi speaking states for their contribution to the Hindi language.
•Foreign Hindi writers selected for the award are Professor Fujii Takeshi (Japan) and Professor Gabriela Nik Ilieva (New York) while the Non-Resident Indians (NRI) who get the awards are Pushpita Avasthi (Netherlands) and Padmesh Gupt (London).
3) India's first-ever micro-drama festival held in Delhi
•India's first ever micro-drama festival, named Thespis, was held recently in New Delhi. The longest play of the festival ran for not more than 10 minutes and the shortest one lasted for only 42 seconds.
•The Day long event saw screening of 28 independent plays at the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Art, New Delhi. The festival was organised by theater group 'Vriksh'. The inaugural play of the festival was titled 'Chamaeleonidae'.
4) First rail freight service to China departs UK
•The first rail freight service British goods from the UK to China has departed on its 17-day, 7,500-mile journey. British goods including soft drinks, vitamins and baby products are in the 30 containers carried by the train, which will be a regular service.
•After going through the Channel Tunnel, the train will pass through seven other countries before arriving on 27 April, 2017. They are France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan.
5) PM releases book authored by LS Speaker Sumitra Mahajan
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a book 'Matoshree', authored by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in New Delhi.
•The book 'Matoshree' covers the life and times of legendary Devi Ahilyabai Holker who ruled the Holkar Empire spread over the Malwa region from 1767 to 1795.
6) Nokia partner with Airtel & BSNL to set up 5G internet speed in India
•Nokia and Airtel along with state-owned network BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd) have announced that they have partnered to set up 5G internet speed in India to introduce a fast internet ecosystem in the country.
•An MOU has been signed between the companies. The aim of the partnerships is to upgrade the existing 4G network in India to make way for better 5G services in the country.
