Who has been awarded with the 2019 Goldman Environmental Prize?

On World Earth Day- April 22, 2019 the State Bank of India (SBI) has launched India's first 'Green Car Loan' (Electric Vehicle) to encourage customers to buy electric vehicles. The new scheme 'Green Car Loan' will offer loan at 20 basis points lower than the interest rate on the existing car loan schemes. The scheme comes with the longest repayment period of up to 8 years. It is thus a strategic inclusion to SBI's auto loan segment that is offered with zero processing fee for the first 6 months of the launch. SBI has already notified 100% migration to EVs (Electric Vehicles) by 2030 in order to decrease carbon footprints, thus being in line with the government's pledge of ensuring 30% EVs on road by 2030.

The UK parliament became the first national legislative body in the world to declare a climate change emergency. The motion was approved without a vote and registers the views of the House of Commons without compelling the government to act on any particular policy proposal. It also calls for the government to work towards carbon neutrality before 2050 and for ministers to draft proposals within the next 6 months to restore the country's environment and create a "zero waste economy".

Rajasthan Day is celebrated on 30th March every year on which the state Rajasthan came into existence as it was previously known as Rajputana. On 30th March 1949, the state was formed.

Iran announced it will pull out of some commitments under 2015 international nuclear agreement signed with world powers, called Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA). Iran said it will stop suppressing its stocks of enriched uranium and heavy water, as these are needed by certain types of the reactor for nuclear fission to take place. It mentioned that such actions are required from Iran as the European Union (EU) and other countries did not have the power to resist US pressure. The move is to secure Iran's rights and bring back the balance after the United States exited from an agreement in 2018.

NASA's the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered an Earth-sized planet, HD 21749b and a "sub-Neptune" world, revolving around the star, HD 21749. The star lies 53 light-years from Earth. The research study has been published on 15th April, 2019 in 'The Astrophysical Journal Letters'. TESS was launched to Earth orbit in April 2018 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. One tool termed as 'Planet Finder Spectrograph' (PFS) on the 'Magellan II telescope' in Chile helped to confirm the planetary nature of the TESS signal and measure the mass of HD 21749b. HD 21749b is about 23 times heavier and 2.7 times wider than Earth. It is gaseous, has a substantial atmosphere but not as puffy as Uranus and Neptune. HD 21749b has an orbital period of 36 Earth days.

Japanese unmanned spacecraft, Hayabusa2 reached Asteriod Ryugu on June,2018. Since then, the spacecraft landed multiple robotic probes on its rocky terrain of the Asteroid Ryugu.The spacecraft had surveyed 69,000 locations covering almost 90 percent of Asteroid Ryugu by using a near-infrared spectrometer capable of detecting hydrated minerals.According to its study published in U.S. Journal Science,the spacecraft probed and found the small amounts of minerals containing water on the surface of the asteroid.A part of the water might be from asteroids and comets.

CIMON (Crew Interactive Mobile Companion), the first Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered robot to fly in Space, was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2018. German astronaut Alexander Gerst talked with the artificially intelligent crew-assistant CIMON during a 90-minute experiment on November 15, 2018, aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) data, after a very low growth phase, life and non-life premium income of insurance companies have registered substantial growth in financial year 2019. Life insurer's premium income grew 11% in FY19 over 2018 and non-life insurance firms witnessed a 13% rise in their total premium income to Rs 1.70 lakh crore in the financial year ended March 2019. 25 are general insurers: whose collective gross premium in 2018-19 was Rs 1.50 lakh crore, up by around 13% from Rs 1.33 lakh crore in 2018. 7 are standalone private sector insurers: they had a rise of 37% in their combined premium to Rs 11,368.82 crore in the financial year ended March 2019, against Rs 8,314.27 crore in 2018. 2 are government-owned specialised insurers: among them, Agricultural Insurance Company of India and ECGC Ltd registered a dip of 7.75% in premium at Rs 8,425.75 crore during the fiscal ended March 2019, as against Rs 9,133.78 crore in 2018.

The Indian contingent for the World Dwarf Games made the entire nation proud of their achievements as they bagged as many as 37 medals from the games, which were held in Toronto, Canada. Incredibly, they managed to secure a top-10 finish in the tournament, having clinched 15 gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze medals at the event.

Eminent Gandhian Natwar Thakkar passed away on 7th October 2018 due to his ill health. His efforts to spread Gandhian philosophy and peace had earned him the title 'Nagaland's Gandhi'. He was the founder of Nagaland Gandhi Ashram. He was honoured with the Padma Shri award. Mr.Thakkar had been chosen as a member of a committee constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the year-long celebration of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary across the country. He went Nagaland from Maharashtra in 1955 when the movement for secession from India under the legendary Naga leader A.Z. Angami was gaining momentum. His Gandhian mission was viewed as a front for espionage by New Delhi and he was often told, at gunpoint, to leave the Naga domain.