30th April 2026

1. Overview of PM Narendra Modi’s Visit to Sikkim; Inaugurates Rs 4,000 Crore Projects
2. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, AP CM Chandrababu Naidu Laid Foundation for Google Cloud AI Hub in Visakhapatnam
3. SkyHop Aviation Receives DGCA Approval for India’s First Commercial Seaplane Service in Lakshadweep
4. BHEL Signs Agreement with DRDO’s NSTL for Naval Infrared Suppression System
5. SIPRI Report 2025: USA Topped; India Becomes 5th-Largest Military Spender
6. UAE Announces Withdrawal From OPEC & OPEC+ Oil Alliance
7. Flipkart, Axis Bank & PayU Launch Biometric Authentication for OTP-Free Card Payments
8. China Launches Pakistani Satellite ‘PRSC-EO3’ Aboard Long March-6 Rocket
9. International Jazz Day 2026- April 30
10. World Immunization Week 2026 – April 24 to 30
11. India and Sri Lanka Conduct IN–SLN DIVEX 2026 to Strengthen Maritime Cooperation
12. Do you Know Which was the First UPI App in India?
13. DRDO and Indian Navy Successfully Test Naval Anti-Ship Missile (NASM-SR)
14. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Launches Ganga Expressway Project in Uttar Pradesh
15. West Bengal Records Highest-Ever Poll Participation Since Independence
16. APEDA to Set Up Basmati and Organic Training Centre in Pilibhit to Boost Exports
17. India Wins Four Golds at Commonwealth Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships
18. Punjab FC Retain AIFF Elite Youth League Title with 3-0 Win Over Zinc Football Academy
19. Finland Launches Europe’s First Fully Integrated Lithium Project Near Kokkola
20. Tamil Nadu’s Rithika Sri Scripts History as India’s First Transgender Umpire
21. India Army to Host 11 Nations for First Edition of Exercise PRAGATI in Meghalaya

State News

Prime Minister Inaugurates Development Projects during Sikkim Golden Jubilee

• What: Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the State’s Golden Jubilee celebrations of statehood during a two-day visit to Sikkim and launched development projects worth over Rs 4,000 crore.
• Tell me more:
  • Sikkim became an official part of India nearly three decades after the country gained independence. Observed every year on May 16, Sikkim Day marks the former kingdom’s merger with India in 1975.
  • The Kingdom of Sikkim was established in 1642, when Phuntsong Namgyal was consecrated as its first ruler, or Chogyal, by three Tibetan lamas. The Namgyal dynasty ruled Sikkim for the next 333 years, until the monarchy ended in 1975.

Google Cloud to Build Major Artificial Intelligence Hub in Visakhapatnam

• What: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for a large-scale Google Cloud India Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam, marking a major technological shift for Andhra Pradesh.
• Tell me more:
  • Google is developing this project in partnership with AdaniConneX and Nxtra by Airtel.
  • The hub is part of a proposed $15 billion (approximately Rs 1.35 lakh crore) investment in India between 2026 and 2030.
  • The project also covers the expansion of fibre-optic networks and a long-term clean energy plan, in line with India’s goal of reaching 500 GW of non-fossil fuel energy capacity by 2030.

Prime Minister Inaugurates The Massive Ganga Expressway

• What: Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi inaugurated the 594-km Ganga Expressway, a massive six-lane greenfield infrastructure project connecting Meerut to Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, which was completed in less than three-and-a-half years.
• Tell me more:
  • The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) developed this project under a public-private partnership model with Adani Road Transport Limited and IRB Infrastructure.
  • The state government expects the project to contribute over Rs 1 lakh crore to the GDP of Uttar Pradesh.
  • The Government of Uttar Pradesh is establishing 11 industrial corridors across all 12 connected districts.

State Elections in 2026

• What: Currently, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and Assam are conducting their state elections in April 2026.
• Tell me more:
  • Tripura currently holds the record for the highest ever Assembly election turnout at 93.61%.
  • The Election Commission announced that West Bengal registered a record 92.47% voter turnout during the two-phase Assembly polls, marking the highest participation level in the state since Independence.
  • There are 294 assembly seats in West Bengal.

India to Set up First Basmati Organic Training Centre

• What: The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) signed a 70-year lease with the Government of Uttar Pradesh to establish a Basmati & Organic Training Centre-cum-Demo Farm in Pilibhit.
• Tell me more:
  • It will function as the first integrated farm in India covering both conventional and organic Basmati cultivation.
  • The Ministry of Commerce & Industry designated the site as an All India Coordinated Research Projects (AICRP) centre for national-level Basmati trials.
  • Authorities launched an AI-based Basmati Paddy Survey for 2026–2028, covering nearly 4 million hectares to improve crop assessment, varietal identification and scientific advisory services for more than 500,000 farmers.

International News

United Arab Emirates Withdraws from OPEC and OPEC+

• What: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced its withdrawal from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the OPEC+ framework to focus on national interests, effective from May 1.
• Tell me more:
  • The UAE possesses a production capacity of approximately 4.8 million barrels per day. The UAE had contributed to the organisation as a member since 1967.
  • Indonesia, Qatar, Ecuador, Angola, and Gabon previously withdrew from the organisation.

Pakistan Launches Indigenous EO-3 Satellite from China

• What: Pakistan launched its indigenous Electro-Optical-3 (PRSC-EO3) satellite, using a Chinese Long March-6 rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre to enhance Earth observation and military surveillance.
• Tell me more:
  • Pakistan’s Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) designed this asset for environmental monitoring and disaster management.
  • ISRO is monitoring these developments while expanding its satellite fleet and plans to deploy 52 remote sensing satellites by 2030 for real-time border monitoring.

Finland Launches Europe’s First Fully Integrated Lithium Project Near Kokkola

• Finland’s Keliber project launched Europe’s first fully integrated lithium supply chain, strengthening local battery production, reducing import dependence on Asia and Australia, and improving Europe’s strategic and industrial supply security.

Banking and Economy

SkyHop Aviation Receives Licence for Seaplane Services

• What: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granted an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) to SkyHop Aviation to launch India’s first dedicated commercial seaplane services, focusing initially on connecting five islands in Lakshadweep with the mainland.
• Tell me more:
  • The government will introduce a Seaplane Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme to support these operations.
  • The revised Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme aims to include more seaplane services.

Flipkart Axis Bank and PayU Launch Biometric Payments

• What: Flipkart, Axis Bank, and PayU announced a new biometric authentication feature for card payments that allows customers to approve transactions using fingerprints or Face ID instead of a one-time password (OTP).
• Tell me more:
  • This feature is currently available for Axis Bank cardholders using supporting Android and iOS devices.
  • Axis Bank utilizes Wibmo, a subsidiary of PayU, to power verification on the issuer side.
  • PayU manages the merchant-side infrastructure and authentication flows for the platform.
  • The RBI issued the ‘Authentication Mechanisms for Digital Payment Transactions Directions, 2025’ circular, promoting biometric and risk-based authentication over traditional SMS OTPs through device binding and security checks to reduce SIM-swap and OTP-interception fraud.

The First UPI App in India

• PhonePe – India’s first mobile UPI payments app, launched with Yes Bank and the first private UPI app on Google Play Store.
• BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) – India’s first government-backed UPI app, developed by NPCI and launched in 2016.

Reports and Indices

Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2025 by SIPRI

• What: Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2025 was published by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
• Tell me more:
  • Global military spending reached $2887 billion in 2025, marking the 11th consecutive annual increase and reflecting rising global insecurity and deeper geopolitical tensions.
  • The United States, China and Russia remained the world’s top three military spenders, with a combined expenditure of $1480 billion, accounting for 51% of total global military spending.
  • India ranked as the world’s fifth largest military spender in 2025, behind the United States, China, Russia and Germany, after increasing its defence expenditure by 8.9% to $92.1 billion.

Defence News

BHEL and DRDO Sign Agreement for Naval Technology

• What: Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) entered into a Licensing Agreement for Transfer of Technology (LAToT) with the Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), a constituent laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), for naval vessel systems.
• Tell me more:
  • The agreement focuses on the Gas Turbine–Infrared Suppression System (GT-IRSS) for naval vessels, under which BHEL will undertake the fabrication, installation, and commissioning of the LM2500 system developed by NSTL-DRDO.

India and Sri Lanka Conclude Bilateral Diving Exercise

• What: The Indian Navy (IN) and Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) conducted the fourth edition of their bilateral diving exercise, IN–SLN DIVEX 2026, in Colombo from April 21 to 28, 2026, to strengthen maritime partnership and underwater operational coordination.
• Tell me more:
  • The Indian Navy’s Diving Support and Submarine Rescue Vessel, INS Nireekshak, participated in this.
  • A key part of the exercise involved specialised underwater diving operations near Colombo, around two World War-era shipwrecks — SS Worcester and SS Perseus.
  • India handed over two Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog, Hita and Maitri (BHISM) cubes under the Aarogya Maitri initiative.

DRDO and Navy Successfully Launch Anti-Ship Missile

• What: The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy successfully conducted the maiden salvo launch of the indigenous Naval Anti-Ship Missile-Short Range (NASM-SR) from Indian Navy’s Sea King helicopter off the Odisha coast.
• Tell me more:
  • Salvo launch means firing multiple missiles in quick succession from the same platform at a target or set of targets.
  • In this case, the Indian Navy launched two NASM-SR missiles one after the other from the same helicopter, demonstrating the system’s ability to rapidly fire successive missiles during combat.
  • NASM-SR is the first indigenous air-launched anti-ship missile developed by DRDO. Adani Aerospace & Defence was the development partner.
  • The NASM-SR is a fire-and-forget missile, meaning that once it is locked onto a target and launched, it can guide itself autonomously.

Indian Army to Host Maiden Multinational Exercise PRAGATI

• What: The Indian Army will host the first edition of Exercise Partnership of Regional Armies for Growth and Transformation in the Indian Ocean Region (PRAGATI) in Meghalaya from 18 to 31 May.
• Tell me more:
  • Contingents from nearly a dozen countries including Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Laos will participate in this two-week event.
  • The exercise will take place at the Foreign Training Node (FTN) in Umroi under the Act East policy.
  • An Indian Army contingent will also depart for Cambodia in early May for the second edition of the bilateral Cambodia-India Naval Bilateral Exercise (CINBAX).

Important Days

International Jazz Day 2026 – April 30

• UNESCO proclaimed 30 April as International Jazz Day in November 2011.

World Immunization Week 2026 – April 24 to 30

• Theme: For every generation, vaccines work

Sports

Indian Athletes Secure Four Gold Medals in Samoa

• What: Indian weightlifters secured four gold medals on the second day of the Commonwealth Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships and the Universal Cup (Senior) currently held in Apia, Samoa.
• Tell me more:

Punjab FC Defends AIFF Elite Youth League Title

• What: Punjab Football Club (PFC) successfully defended their All India Football Federation (AIFF) Elite Youth League 2025-26 title by defeating Zinc Football Academy (ZFA) with a 3-0 score in the final match.
• Tell me more:
  • The final match took place at the Ramsar Sahib Sports Stadium in Paddi Sura Singh, Garhshankar on Tuesday.
  • Punjab FC Captain: Vishal Yadav

Appointments

First Transgender Umpire Makes History in Cricket

• Rithika Sri became the first transgender umpire in cricket after the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) introduced an ‘other’ gender option in their State Panel Umpire examination applications.

Start Quiz of 30th April 2026 on Mobile

Start Quiz of 30th April 2026 on Desktop