What is the India's GDP growth forecast for 2018, according to UNCTAD's latest report "Trade and Development Report"?

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) set up a 13-member committee in order to review regulatory framework on micro insurance, and suggest the steps to be taken to raise demand for such products in India by recommending product designs with customer-friendly underwriting, example, easy premium payment methods and simple claims settlement procedures. The committee is headed by Suresh Mathur, IRDAI's Executive Director. It constitutes of officials from IRDAI, life, general and health insurance companies in public and private sectors, as well as NGOs (Non-Government Organizations). The committee was formed because of less than desired offtake of micro insurance products in spite of their immense benefits in India. It will also give recommendations about alteration in distribution structure, that is, creating effective awareness programmes and making web-based technology driven solutions.

A water conservation scheme 'Jal Amrutha' was launched by Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, in Bengaluru. For the purpose of inauguration of the scheme, a function was organized by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department at Dr B R Ambedkar Bhavan in Bengaluru. The scheme plans to make people aware about the importance of conserving water and to prompt them to come up with ways to avoid wastage of water. The scheme will involve undertaking scientific approaches such as water budgeting, water harvesting and water conservation through the use of geospatial data, satellite imagery, topographical and geological data. It is going to be a community-initiative, and will be undertaken by important government departments, Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and private sector institutions. Amd 2019 has been declared as 'Jalavarsha (year of water)'.

Karnataka government issued a circular, following the order of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, directing all schools in the state, including government, aided and unaided institutions, to limit the weight of a schoolbag which is not more than 10% of the child's weight. The weight of a bag of a student in Class 1 or 2 should not be more than 2 kg and these students should not be given any homework. For the students from Class 3 to 5, it can weigh between 2 and 3 kg. The weight increases accordingly, with the students of Class 9 and 10 are allowed to carry bags of weight 4-5kg. The third Saturday of every month should be followed as "No School Bag Day". Teachers are required to keep the students busy without any books or supplementary materials and indulge in activities like field visits, general knowledge clubs, art classes, indoor and outdoor games, abacus, dance classes and debates.

Steel Authority of India's Hockey Academy wins 115th Aga Khan Gold Cup tournament by beating Army XI Danapur by 2-1 at Major Dhyan Chand hockey stadium in New Delhi. Jay Prakash Patel scored the match-winning goal for the SAIL Hockey Academy (SHA) in the final match of Aga Khan Gold Cup which is one of the oldest hockey tournament in the country. The SHA team defeated Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy by 4-2 in the semifinals. SAIL Hockey Academy is run by SAIL's Rourkela Steel Plant.

The German-sponsored resolution 2467 (2019), on sexual violence, was adopted by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) condemning rape as a weapon of war after 13 out of 15 members have voted in favour of the resolution while Russia and China abstain from voting. The resolution was adopted only after language on a woman's right to "reproductive health" was removed from the draft to avert a veto by the anti-abortion US administration.

IPS officer Chhaya Sharma conferred with the 2019 McCain Institute Award for Courage and Leadership. She headed the investigation team of the infamous Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case. She has guided teams in the detection and investigation of sensitive criminal cases and protection of human rights. In 2017, Chhaya performed a crucial role in drafting Standard Operating Procedures and Guidelines to Combat Trafficking of Persons in India. The award is granted to those who manifest courage on behalf of human rights, humanitarian compassion, justice, freedom, and human dignity.

World Malaria Day is an international event observed every year on 25 April, to spread awareness about malaria disease globally and to promote efforts to prevent malaria around the world. The theme of World Malaria Day 2019 is "Zero malaria starts with me". At the 60th session of the World Health Assembly, a meeting sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2007 proposed that Africa Malaria Day be changed to World Malaria Day to identify the existence of malaria in the countries worldwide and to bring awareness among people globally to fight against malaria disease.

Max Bupa, India's health insurance company collaborated with HDFC Bank, India's leading private sector banks, and launched 'AnyTimeHealth (ATH) machines. The machine is an automated, web-based model that permits customers to avail health assessment, namely, Body Mass Index', 'Blood Pressure', 'Body Type & Fat percentage', 'Muscle percentage', 'Bone Mass', 'Body Temperature' and buy health policy dynamically without incorporation of any kind of conventional manual efforts. Max Bupa partnered with HDFC Bank to design an end-to-end 'digital journey' for the bank's customers, which is designed to support HDFC Bank's assisted and non-assisted mode of selling insurance digitally, thus empowering the HDFC's customers to avail health insurance solutions proficiently.

The 3-day National Cardiology Conference 2019 has been started at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of medical sciences in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu was the chief guest of this conference. The conference being held for the first time in Uttar Pradesh to provide an opportunity to showcase newer innovations in Cardiology which can help to deliver cost-effective cardiology care for the patients.