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INS Kolkata and INS Shakti arrived at Busan, South Korea to participate in ADMM-PLUS (ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting). Indian Navy's 2 warships, INS Kolkata and INS Shakti had gone to Qingdao in China to participate in the International Fleet Review (IFR), which is an international maritime parade organised off the coast of China. It is celebrated to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Navy. After participating in the parade, the 2 warships, INS Kolkata and INS Shakti reached Busan, South Korean port city on a 5-day visit as part of a deployment of the Eastern Fleet to the South China Sea. The deployment was regarding demonstration of Act East policy of India and the Indian Navy's rising footprint and operational reach. The Indian Navy notified that the 2 warships, on arrival were welcomed into the harbour by Republic of Korea's (ROK) Navy's officials. The ships will participate in the ADMM-Plus Maritime Security Field Training Exercise (FTX) at Busan. The Navy also notified that INS Kolkata and INS Shakti will also participate in the International Maritime Defence Expo, IMDEX-19, and the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise, SIMBEX, both at Singapore.

Third Installment of the Joint Naval Exercise of India and Australia AUSINDEX is to be held off the coast of Vishakhapatnam from April 2 to 16. The joint exercise will focus on anti-submarine warfare, as part of efforts to ramp up bilateral naval cooperation in the strategic Indian Ocean region. AUSINDEX 2019 From the Australian side, HMAS Canberra (landing helicopter dock), Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment vessel, two frigates, HMAS Newcastle and HMAS Parramatta and P81 and P8 maritime patrol aircraft, will be involved in the exercise. A Kilo-class submarine, land-based Hawk aircraft that will provide the air attack element for the exercise, a Kamorta class anti-submarine vessel, besides a stealth destroyer will lead the Indian deployment for the exercise. The exercise will feature the deployment of Australian personnel on Indian ships and vice versa.

China lifted its broadband communication system by launching a Long March - 3B carrier rocket with 'ChinaSat 6C' into a geostationary orbit in Sichuan province. The'ChinaSat 6C' was launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province. It is a 19 story tall rocket which is expected to provide high quality radio and television transmission services. It marked 300th launch of the Long March carrier rocket series which was developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and will be operated by China Satellite Communications Co. Ltd. The satellite will cover China, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific Island Countries. Nearly 97% of China's total launch missions was on Long March rocket series.

International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI), a two-day workshop organised by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), and in partnership with the Global Commission on Adaptation, United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank was held at New Delhi. The objectives of the workshop were to: Identify good practices of disaster risk management in key infrastructure sectors. Identify specific areas and pathways for collaborative research on DRI (Transport, Energy, Telecom and Water). Discuss and co-create the broad contours of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) as well as a notional roll-out plan for the next three years. The first IWDRI was held in January 2018 and IWDRI 2019 built upon some of the ideas generated at the IWDRI 2018 as a crucial milestone towards the establishment of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

India has replaced Japan as the world's second-largest steel producing country, only behind China, which is the largest producer of crude steel accounting for more than 51 per cent of production, as per the latest report by World Steel Association. The other nations in the list of top 10 steel producing countries include the United States, which is at the 4th position as the country produced 86.7 MT of crude steel in 2018, followed by South Korea at the 5th place with 72.5 MT of crude steel, Russia at 6th with 71.7 MT, Germany at 7th with 42.4 MT, Turkey at 8th with 37.3 MT, Brazil at 9th with 34.7 MT and Iran at the 10th position with 25 MT crude steel in 2018.

India is likely to surpass the United Kingdom in the world's largest economy rankings in 2019, to become the world's fifth largest economy, according to a report by global consultancy firm PwC. PwC's Global Economy Watch report projects real GDP growth of 1.6% for the UK, 1.7% for France and 7.6% for India in 2019.

Maitrayee Bose, Indian-origin cosmochemist along with Ziliang Jin, a postdoctoral scholar in Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration, have found water in asteroid Itokawa samples collected by the Japanese space probe Hayabusa. The research paper detailing the analysis of five of the particles from the asteroid samples was published in the journal Science Advances on 8th May 2019. Itokawa is a peanut-shaped S-type asteroid about 1,800 feet long and 700 to 1,000 feet wide. It circles the Sun every 18 months at an average distance of 1.3 times the Earth-Sun distance. The samples were collected from an area on Itokawa known as the Muses Sea, which is smooth and dusty.

UNICEF representative in India Yasmin Ali Haque lauded the contribution of Poshan Abhiyaan-a scheme by the central government in reduction of stunting, under-nutrition and anaemia in women and adolescents by providing monetary support via direct cash transfers. It was launched in 2017 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.Quoting Haque, "Poshan Abhiyaan has got global recognition for its effort to eradicate malnutrition from India. Cash transfer is an additional support to the family income. The Poshan Abhiyaan is a massive step that realises the need for eradicating malnutrition".The latest UNICEF report states that one-third of the population suffers from at least one kind of malnutrition and the number would increase tohalf by 2025.According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4, 2015-16, one-fifth of the total population has a BMI less than 18.5, while one-fourth males and half of the total females are anaemic.According to the latest Global Nutrition Report, India accounts for one- third stunting of the global population. India topped the list with 46.6 million stunted children, followed by Nigeria (13.9 million) and Pakistan (10.7 million).

Gram Samridhi Yojana, a Rs 3,000 crore scheme funded by the World Bank and the Government of India, is being worked upon by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in order to strengthen the unorganised food processing sector concentrated in rural areas. World Bank will be giving Rs 1,500 crore and Rs 1,000 crore will be borne by the Centre while state governments will put in Rs 500 crore. The scheme will be run in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab for a five-year period in the initial phase and thereafter in other states of the country. NITI Aayog has given its approval to the scheme and now the proposal is pending with the Expenditure Finance Committee for clearance.