• "Laughter is a painkiller and reduces the stress and anxiety of physical illnesses." World Laughter Day is celebrated every year since 1998.


• Whose main purpose is to raise awareness of the laughter and its many benefits. This day also promotes thousands of groups around the world, commonly known as Laughter Club. Those who regularly practice laughing, who promote happiness in life.

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• Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired at least 100 rockets into southern Israel, according to the Israeli military, triggering retaliatory airstrikes and tank fire against militant targets in the blockaded enclave and shattering a month-long lull in violence.


• Gaza’s Health Ministry said a 22-year-old Palestinian, Emad Nassir, was killed by an Israeli airstrike. Six other Palestinians sustained injuries from airstrikes and shelling. In Israel, there were no reports of injuries, and police said a house in the coastal city of Ashkelon was damaged.


• The outbreak of fighting came as leaders from Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, and the smaller armed faction Islamic Jihad were in Egypt for talks with mediators aimed at restoring a fraying cease-fire. Hamas leaders have hoped the recent calm would pave the way for a deeper, longer-term cease-fire.

Source: Cick Here

• According to Sri Lankan authorities Zahran Hashim, alleged mastermind of the Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka, likely transited Tamil Nadu when he travelled to other Indian cities.


• However, officials have not, so far, found any air travel records or immigration entries confirming that Hashim flew to India. Sri Lankan Army chief Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake told “It’s possible that he went from Mannar to Tamil Nadu by sea”.


• Collaborating with intelligence agencies in the region, including India, Sri Lanka would probe the extent of such regional networks.

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• British Prime Minister Theresa May stepped up calls for Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to agree a cross-party deal to leave the European Union, following poor results for both parties in local elections.


• The parties have been in negotiations for over a month to try to broker a Brexit deal that can secure majority support in parliament, after May’s minority government suffered three heavy defeats on her preferred deal this year and was forced to delay Britain’s departure.

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• A Special Purpose Vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics & IT, (Information Technology) CSC (Common Services Centre) e-Governance Services India Limited, has partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur to upscale ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’.


• ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan project’ is being led by Dr. Reeta Singh, from IIT Kanpur.


• Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’ is the programme of the HRD (Human Resource Development) Ministry which is working towards achieving solutions for increasing sustainable growth in rural India.


• IIT-Kanpur has brought together 15 leading higher education institutions from UP (Uttar Pradesh) to work together with CSC, under this policy, for the villages’ development.


• Through CSC, they will adopt gram panchayats and equip themselves with citizen-centric services. IIT Kanpur has adopted 5 villages for its holistic development. The villages are situated on the outskirts of Kanpur and are as follows: Hridayapur, Baikanthpur, Ishwariganj, Pratappur Hari and Saxupurva.


• The educational institutions will provide training to the village level entrepreneurs (VLEs) who run CSCs.
  
• These entrepreneurs would be equipped with the usage of solar energy, cleanliness, and usage of modern technologies.


• The collaboration of IIT-Kanpur with the leading institutions with CSCs would strengthen the government’s vision of Digital India.

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• PM Narendra Modi said that Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman accepted to release 850 Indians lodged in its jails after he requested him.


• PM Modi added "I requested Mohammed bin Salman to release prisoners so they can come home for Ramadan. He Released them even before Ramadan". Saudi Crown Prince had ordered the release of prisoners on [latex]20^{th}[/latex] February.

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• India and Australia have agreed to further deepen counter-terrorism co-operation through regular exchange of information and sharing of best practices on countering extremism and radicalization.


• The two countries held the 11th Meeting of Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism at Canberra. In a release, the External Affairs Ministry said, the two sides discussed contemporary counter terrorism challenges such as financing of terrorism, the use of the internet for terror purposes, radicalization and Foreign Terrorist Fighters.


• Both sides welcomed the listing of Masood Azhar, leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, as a Global Terrorist by the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee.

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• Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lambasted the Congress for allegedly neglecting Ladakh over the past six decades and said various initiatives like railway line and biggest solar park are in the pipeline for the region for its overall development.


• She assured all the pending defence issues, including rent for the land which is under the army’s use, would be resolved as she listed out various steps taken by the Prime Minister Narendra Mod-led government for the region.


• The Ladakh region usually remains cut-off from the rest of the country for nearly six months annually due to closure of the 434-km long Srinagar-Leh national highway during winter.

Source: Cick Here

• India suggested that funds from the idle savings pools of advanced economies could be funnelled to developing countries in Asia, where consumption is rising.


• Such funds lie in pensions and insurance pools and in sovereign wealth funds and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) could play a role in channelising the money to emerging markets, said Subash Chandra Garg, Alternate Governor, ADB.


• Addressing the business session of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the ADB, Mr. Garg, India’s Economic Affairs Secretary, said: “Advanced economies are seeing stagnant consumption and they have much larger savings pools than their investment requirement.


• If we can, with ADB assisting, ensure flow of funds from advanced economies to the emerging market and developing economies, we would succeed in not only keeping global growth sustained high but also make significant dent on poverty and infrastructure services debt.”

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• The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has backed the Centre’s revised Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles or FAME-II scheme.


• The industry body’s support for the Rs10,000-crore scheme comes despite multiple electric two-wheeler and personal mobility manufacturers red-flagging provisions in the scheme.


• The main aim of the scheme is to encourage faster adoption of electric and hybrid vehicle by way of offering upfront incentives on purchase of electric vehicles and by way of establishing a necessary charging infrastructure.


• The scheme will not only help in addressing the issue of rising environmental pollution in cities but will also help in India’s fuel security.

Source: Cick Here

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) does not have a history of acting tough against stock exchanges, which are also the first level regulators for listed companies.


• There have been instances in the past when processes and procedures of exchanges have been a subject of regulatory probe, but more often than not, the bourses managed to get away with a censure or warning.


• The capital markets watchdog ordered the NSE to disgorge money totalling Rs. 1,100 crore for not exercising proper due diligence while offering co-location services that allowed certain entities to gain access to information before others did.

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• Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa emerged champions in the Asian squash championship here on Sunday. This is the first time two Indians have finished on top in the same tournament.


• An unprecedented feat that eluded the Indians in Chennai two years ago became a reality in Malaysia when Joshna, the second seed, successfully defended her title shocking the top seed Annie Au of Hong Kong 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6.

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• Indian boxers finished with a rich haul of six medals, including two gold at the 36th Feliks Stamm International Boxing Tournament in Warsaw, Poland.


• Gaurav Solanki and Manish Kaushik bagged one gold each. Indian boxers also clinched a silver and three bronze.


• The 22-year-old Solanki out-punched England's William Cawley 5-0 in 52 kilogram on his way to the coveted yellow metal.


• In 60 kilogram weight category, Kaushik beat Morocco's Mohamed Hamout 4-1. However, there was some disappointment for the Indian contingent on the final day of the European tournament as Mohammed Hussamuddin had to be content with yet another second-place finish following a 1-4 defeat to Russia's Mukhammad Shekhov.

Source: Cick Here

• Ace Indian Squash players - Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa - will play for the titles of the Asian Individual Squash Championship in Kuala Lumpur.


• Ghosal, Men's top seed, will take on Leo Au Chun Ming of Hong Kong, while Joshna, the reigning champion, will face Annie Au, also from Hong Kong.


• In the semi-finals, Joshna had defeated sixth seed Sivasangari Subramaniam of Malaysia, while Ghosal beat another Malaysian Eain Yow Ng.

Source: Cick Here

• Reza Baqir, an economist working for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been appointed as the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).


• The cash-strapped country seeks to finalise a multi-billion dollar bailout package from the global lender.

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• Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has announced the appointments of Anuradha Razdan as executive director, Human Resources, and Vibhav Sanzgiri as executive director, Research and Development.


• Both Ms. Razdan and Dr. Sanzgiri will join HUL’s management committee with effect from June 1, according to a company statement.


• Ms. Razdan joined HUL as a management trainee in 1999 and has now returned to India after a stint in Unilever. She succeeds B.P. Biddappa, who is moving to a global role with Unilever.


• Dr. Sanzgiri joined HUL in 1997 and has held global and regional R&D roles in skin care and skin cleansing categories.

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• Flipkart-owned fashion e-commerce platform Myntra has appointed ViratKohli and Anushka Sharma as its first ever official brand ambassadors.


• Myntra has launched an integrated campaign called ‘Go Myntra-la-la’ to promote the brand. Advertising agency McCann Worldgroup from Bengaluru has created the television campaign.


• Anushka Sharma is a Bollywood actress and Virat Kohli is a famous cricket player. The couple has worked as brand ambassadors together for brands including Head and Shoulders and Manyavar.


• According to the 2018 Duff & Phelps celebrity brand valuation report, ‘Virushka’ are the biggest ‘power couple’ in terms of brand promotions after Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh.

Source: Cick Here

• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur have identified and characterised a novel small protein molecule that can effectively control inflammation leading to better treatment outcomes.


• In contrast, inflammation control by molecules that are undergoing clinical trials may not be optimal due to inherent drawbacks. The work was done in collaboration with the University of Queensland.

Source: Cick Here

• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi have successfully 3D bioprinted human skin models that have certain anatomically relevant structural, mechanical and biochemical features similar to native human skin. The bioprinted skin produced in the lab by the team is already being used by ITC Ltd for experiments.


• The bioprinted skin model will have wide applications in testing cosmetics. It can also reduce and probably even replace testing on animals.


• It can also be used for testing dermatology drugs on human skin and at a future date even help in testing drugs for personalised medicine.

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• Prominent writer and academician, Maramraju Satyanarayana Rao died due to cardiac arrest in Hyderabad. He was 84. He was born at Jayyaram village in Mahabubabad district, Telangana.


• He had worked as professor of political science and registrar of Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad.


• He actively participated in separate Telangana agitation in 1969.

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• Adiraja Sultana Fathima Muthu Beevi, the head of erstwhile Arakkal royal family, passed away at her house ‘Isalil’ in Thalassery, Kerala due to age-related ailments. She was 86. She was the wife of late C P KunjahammedIlaya.


• Arakkal was the lone Muslim royal family in Kerala that had once ruled the Cannanore (present Kannur) and southern Lakshadweep. The ruling King was called Ali Raja and the ruling queen was called Arakkal Beevi.


• On [latex]26^{th}[/latex] June, 2018, Fathima Muthu Beevi took over the charge as 39th head of the dynasty, following the death of her sister Sultana Arakkal Adiraja Zainaba Aysha Beevi.