Daily Current Affairs

The Government of India (GoI) approved a Rs 30 billion currency swap facility for the Maldives under the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Currency Swap Framework, reaffirming India’s role as a key financial partner for its island neighbour.

• Background: The approval was made under the INR Swap Window of the ‘Framework on Currency Swap Arrangement for SAARC Countries, 2024–2027’, signed between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) during President Mohamed Muizzu’s state visit to New Delhi in October 2024.
• Previous facility: Maldives settled a USD 400 million swap facility (October 2024) under the US Dollar/Euro Swap Window, reflecting the Maldives government’s commitment to meeting financial obligations.
• Aggregate Support: RBI has extended aggregate swap support worth USD 1.1 billion to the Maldives under the SAARC Swap Framework (launched in 2012).
• SAARC: South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation; HQ: Kathmandu, Nepal; founded 1985.

The Ministry of Culture launched ‘VM Frames’, a national filmmaking competition inviting especially youth to creatively celebrate India’s heritage, as part of the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1875.

• Aim: To rekindle pride in India’s shared heritage and inspire a renewed connection with the ideals that shaped its freedom and continue to guide its future.
• Vande Mataram: National Song of India; written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1875; first published in novel ‘Anandamath’ (1882); adopted as national song in 1950.
• Anniversary: 2026 marks the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram’s composition.

DataKaveri Systems, the commercial arm of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru’s Centre of Data for Public Good (CDPG), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ONESTRUCTION Inc., a Japanese construction technology firm, to integrate construction data into AI-ready urban data exchange across Indian and Japanese cities.

• Occasion: MoU signed on the sidelines of the inaugural ‘Japan-India AI Strategic Dialogue’, co-chaired by Amit A. Shukla, Joint Secretary (Cyber Diplomacy), MEA, and Hanada Takahiro, Deputy Assistant Minister for Cyber Security, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, held in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• Digital Platform: Both organisations will jointly connect ONESTRUCTION’s openIBM platform with the Intelligent Universal Data Exchange (IUDX) of DataKaveri — already operational across 55 smart cities in India.
• Key Target: Construction data such as floor plans, utility layouts, and asset histories to flow securely into city-scale AI applications.
• IISc: Indian Institute of Science; established 1909; located in Bengaluru, Karnataka; India’s premier research university.

BharatGen Technology Foundation (BTF) signed a five-year MoU with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) group entities — L&T Semiconductor Technologies Limited (LTSCT) and L&T-Vyoma — to jointly develop an end-to-end Sovereign AI Compute Platform for India.

• Approval: Initiative received approval under IndiaAI from the Digital India Corporation (DIC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• Occasion: MoU signed in the presence of Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India.
• Data Centre: 30 MW facility in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu for large-scale compute and orchestration.

Union Minister of State (MoS) Jitin Prasada, Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoC&I), undertook a two-day official visit to the Czech Republic from April 22–23, 2026, aimed at bolstering bilateral trade, investment and industrial cooperation between the two countries.

• Key Highlight: MoS Prasada, along with Czech counterpart Jan Sechter, co-chaired the 13th session of the India-Czech Republic Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation (JCEC), held in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic.
• Protocol: Both countries signed the protocol of 13th India-Czechia JCEC.
• Business Forum: MoS Prasada and Jan Sechter jointly inaugurated the India-Czech Business Forum in Prague to promote trade, investment, and B2B linkages.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) withdrew some of the restrictions imposed on forex dealers taking positions in the offshore non-deliverable forwards market (NDF) to curb rupee volatility.

• Reason for Restrictions: To curb one-sided positioning in the rupee and tighten control over speculative flows in the foreign exchange market.
• NDF Market: Non-Deliverable Forwards — offshore derivative instruments used to hedge or speculate on currency movements; not settled in local currency.

Jio Financial Services Limited (JFSL) signed a binding agreement to form a 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) with Germany’s Allianz Europe B.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allianz Group, for primary insurance including general insurance and health insurance business in India.

• Background: Collaboration first announced in July 2025 — both firms had signed a non-binding term sheet to explore equally owned JVs in general and life insurance.
• Key Goal: Integrate JFSL’s digital distribution capabilities across India’s underpenetrated insurance market.
• Additional JV: JFSL also formed a 50:50 JV with Allianz Group — Allianz Jio Reinsurance Limited — to provide reinsurance services in India.
• Allianz: One of the world’s largest insurance and asset management companies; HQ: Munich, Germany; founded 1890.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved three-year extensions for the MDs & CEOs of Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, along with the ED of Indian Bank.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) appointed Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-Founder and Group Chief Executive of Fractal, as its new Chairman for the 2026–2027 term.

• Predecessor: He succeeds Sindhu Gangadharan, MD of SAP Labs India, who completed her term in April 2026.
• Vice Chairperson: Kishor Patil, Co-founder, CEO and MD of KPIT Technologies, elected as new Vice Chairperson.
• Nasscom: Founded in 1988; HQ: New Delhi; India’s premier IT industry body representing over 3,000 member companies.

General Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army (IA), was inducted into the International Hall of Fame (HoF) of the United States Army War College (USAWC) at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, USA.

• Occasion: He received the honour during his official visit to the United States of America.
• Criteria: The International HoF recognises military leaders for outstanding contributions to national security and global military cooperation.
• Significance: General Upendra Dwivedi became the third Indian Army Chief to be inducted into the USAWC International HoF, after General V. K. Singh and General Bikram Singh. He is also a Distinguished Fellow and alumnus of USAWC.

NASA unveiled the ‘Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’, a powerful wide-field observatory designed to survey vast regions of the universe and detect planets beyond the solar system.

• Legacy: Named after Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first Chief Astronomer, often called the ‘mother of the Hubble Space Telescope’ for her pioneering role in advancing space-based astronomy.
• Dark Universe: Dark matter and dark energy make up approximately 95% of the universe; the telescope will also detect exoplanets.

Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos’s space venture) launched AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 communications satellite aboard its New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Force Station, Florida (USA), but the mission failed to achieve the intended orbit during its third flight.

• Mission Objective: Space-based cellular connectivity.
• Engine Failure: Issue occurred during the second-stage burn (GS2), when one of the two BE-3U (Blue Engine 3 – Upper Stage) hydrogen-fuelled engines did not generate sufficient thrust.
• Rocket History: New Glenn made its debut in January 2025, becoming the first commercial rocket to reach orbit on its maiden flight; followed by a second mission in November 2025 carrying satellites toward Mars.
• Outcome: Satellite forced into deorbit following the engine failure.

FIFA selected India as one of 12 countries for its Women’s Development Programme (Commercial Strategy 2026) following a successful application and presentation by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

• Programme Aim: To strengthen commercial viability, sustainability, and professional structure of women’s football globally.
• Licensing: The initiative prepares clubs — including those in the Indian Women’s League (IWL) — for the upcoming club licensing system by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Administrative Professionals Day (also known as Secretaries Day, Admin Day, or Administrative Assistant Day) is observed annually on the Wednesday of the last full week in April to recognise the contributions of administrative staff, including secretaries, assistants, and receptionists. In 2026, it was observed on 22 April.

• APW 2026: Administrative Professionals Week (APW) is observed during the last full week of April; in 2026 from 19–25 April 2026.
• Background: In 1942, the National Secretaries Association (now International Association of Administrative Professionals / IAAP) was formed to promote professional development and attract talent, led by Mary Barrett, with contributions from C. King Woodbridge, Harry F. Klemfuss, and Daren Ball.
• First Observance: The first National Secretaries Week was declared in 1952 by Charles W. Sawyer, US Secretary of Commerce, observed from 1–7 June.

The United Nations (UN) Spanish Language Day is observed annually on 23 April to promote awareness of Spanish language, culture, and history among UN staff, while fostering multilingualism and cultural diversity across its member states.

• Introduced: In 2010, the UN’s Department of Global Communications introduced Spanish Language Day to celebrate the UN’s six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.
• Initial Date: Originally observed on 12 October (Spain’s National Day / Columbus’s arrival in the Americas — milestone in global spread of Spanish).
• Date Shift: Moved to 23 April to honour Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, the renowned Spanish author believed to have died on this date in 1616.