1) India's 1st book village to come up in Maharashtra
•A village in Maharashtra famous for its strawberries is soon going offer more - rare Marathi books and magazines. From May 4, Bhilar will become India’s first ‘book village’ where tourists and locals can come and read books, magazines, newspapers stacked at 25 premises. Near the popular the British-era hill station of Mahabaleshwar, Bhilar already attracts a large number of tourists, who come to taste the locally produced strawberries.
•Bhilar, which has a population of about 10,000, and nearby areas produce around 100 tons of strawberry every year, earning them Rs 50 crore. And 90% of the village’s population is involved in strawberry farming.
2) Govt launches Test & Treat policy for HIV patients
•Union Health Minister JP Nadda has launched the Test and Treat policy for providing treatment to patients suffering from Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Launching the policy at a function in New Delhi, Mr. Nadda stated, under it, the government will provide Anti- Retroviral Therapy (ART) treatment to the patients free of cost. It is a centrally sponsored scheme and people suffering from HIV will benefit from it. Under the scheme, a person detected HIV positive will be provided ART treatment.
3) Kerala organises first ever transgender athletic meet
•Kerala has organized the country's first transgender one-day athletic meet at Thiruvananthapuram in which 132 participants from 12 districts participated. Kerala Sports Minister A. C. Moideen has inaugurated the event at the Central Stadium. Member of Parliament A Sampath and Member Legislative Assembly V S Sivakumar were also present during the inaugural function.
•The non-playing members of the transgender community along with participants joined in the march past. One hundred thirty-two participants from 12 districts participated in the meet. There was no participant from Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts. Six events were held in the competition- 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters running; 100x 4 relay race, high jump and shot put.
4) Indian Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik wins gold medal in Moscow competition
•Internationally renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik from Odisha won the jury prize gold medal at the 10th Moscow Sand art Championship.
•The competition was held between 22nd and 28th April at Kolomenskoye, Moscow in Russia. The theme for the competition was "The world around us". Pattnaik was the Indian representative in the competition, where twenty-five sculptors from different countries participated.
5) Jehan Daruvala becomes 1st Indian to take pole in FIA F3 European Championship
•Jehan Daruvala, in his rookie season at the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, is already making waves. The 18-year-old product of Force India Academy, became the first Indian to take pole in the F3 European series, securing the top spot on the starting grid for Race 1 of the second round of the championship in Monza, Italy. However, he was unable to translate that into a race victory, and finished the hard-fought race in second place, behind his Carlin Racing teammate Lando Norris of the UK.
•Daruvala took pole during the qualifying session for Race 1 at the famed Monza Grand Prix circuit in thrilling fashion. The Carlin Racing driver was on his hot lap when curtains fell on the qualifying session with British racer Callum Illot (Prema Powerteam) in the lead.
6) India wins 6 medals in 2nd leg of Asian Grand Prix Atheletics Meet
•India won six medals in the second leg of the Asian Grand Prix Athletics Meet in Jiaxing, China. This included the gold medal bagged by Neena Varakil in women’s long jump. Neena produced the best jump of 6.37 meters in the sixth and final round.
•World junior record holder javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra (pictured) took the silver. Neeraj also qualified for the IAAF World Championships to be held in London in August, 2017.
•India won three more silver medals and a bronze. These came through Manpreet Kaur in women’s shot put, Dutee Chand in women’s 100-meter race and Tintu Luka in women’s 800-meter race. The bronze came through Om Prakash Karhana in men’s shot put. India had won seven medals, including a gold and 4 silver in the first leg.
