1. International Dance Day is celebrated every year on 29 April

• International Dance Day is a global celebration of dance, created by the Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), the main partner for the performing arts of UNESCO.
• The event takes place every year on 29th April, the anniversary of the birth of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727–1810), the creator of modern ballet.
• Every year a message from an outstanding choreographer or dancer is circulated throughout the world.
• For 2020 the Executive Council of ITI in alignment with the Dance Committee of ITI and World Dance Alliance selected Gregory Vuyani  Maqoma, the eminent dancer, choreographer, and dance educator from South Africa.

2. India’s holding of US govt securities hits high record of USD 177.5 bn in Feb: US Treasury Dept

• According to the latest data from the United States (US) Treasury Department (dep) the India’s holding of US government (govt) securities has gone up by over USD 13 billion (bn) in a month to a record high of USD 177.5 bn at the end of February, since November 2019, the country has slowly climbed to USD  159.2 bn.
• In the last one year since February 2019, the overall holding of India has jumped by a staggering USD 33.2 bn .
• India is positioned at 13th position & the 1st position is held by Japan with securities worth over USD 1.268 trillion(tn) at February end, followed by China with holdings of USD 1.092 trillion & United Kingdom at USD 403.2 billion .
• Brazil is positioned in 4th with USD 285.9 billion, followed by Ireland- USD 282.7 billion, Luxembourg- USD 260.8 billion, Hong Kong USD 249.8 billion, Switzerland- USD 243.7 billion, Cayman Islands- USD 219.4 billion, Belgium- USD 218 billion, Taiwan- USD 201.9 billion  and Saudi Arabia- USD 184.4 billion

Foot Notes: About US Department of the Treasury
Secretary– Steven Terner Mnuchin
Deputy Secretary– Justin Muzinich

3. Pakistan's southern Sindh province Governor tests positive for COVID-19

• Pakistan's southern Sindh province Governor Imran Ismail, a close aide of Prime Minister Imran Khan, has been tested positive for COVID-19.
• Mr. Ismail is the highest official in the country to test positive so far. Earlier, Sindh minister for education, Saeed Ghani, tested positive but recovered.
• Before he was tested COVID-19 positive, the governor spent 10 very busy days where he met a host of people and attended important meetings.

Foot notes: About Pakistan
Prime minister: Imran Khan 
Capital: Islamabad
Currency: Pakistani rupee
President: Arif Alvi

4. Pakistan Cricket Board bans Umar Akmal for three-years for match fixing

• Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal was banned for three-years by the Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) Disciplinary Committee for the violation of ICC Anti-corruption code 2.4.4 failing to disclose the details of approaches to engage in corrupt conduct and 2.4.5 failing to disclose any incident that comes to the knowledge of any evidence that another participant received any approaches to engage in corrupt conduct.
• The Chairperson of the Disciplinary panel Justice(retired) Fazal-e-Miran-Chauhan handed the three-year ban to Umar Akmal from all cricket effective from February 20
• He was suspended from the Pakistan Super League (PSL) on 2nd February with two charges under the anti-corruption code by the PCB for failing to report the approach to fix the games.

Foot Notes: About Pakistan Cricket Board:
Chairperson: Ehsan Mani
Headquarters: Lahore, Pakistan
Director: Wasim Khan
Patron-in-chief: Imran Khan

5. Portal of Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand opened

• The portal of the central Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand opened after the winter break. The portals were thrown open amid chanting of Vedic Mantras and performance of necessary rituals.
• Chardham Yatra is suspended due to nationwide lockdown following the Covid 19 pandemic.
• Kedarnath Mandir is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.
• Located on the Garhwal Himalayan range near the Mandakini river, Kedarnath is located in the state of Uttarakhand.
• Due to extreme weather conditions, the temple is open to the general public only between the months of April and November.

Foot Notes: About Uttarkhand
Chief Minister: Trivendra Singh Rawat
Governor: Baby Rani Maurya
Capitals: Dehradun, Gairsain (Summer)

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6. Justice Dipankar Datta takes oath as new Chief Justice of Bombay High Court

• Justice Dipankar Datta took oath as the new Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office to him at Raj Bhavan.
• In view of the coronavirus pandemic, a limited number of guests including Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and a few judges of the high court attended the ceremony.
• Datta succeeds Justice Bhushan Dhamadhikari who retired as chief justice.

7. Renowned actor Irrfan Khan passes away at the age of  54 

• Renowned actor Irrfan Khan passed away in a Mumbai hospital, losing his battle with a rare form of cancer.
• The Maqbool actor, who was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour in 2018, lost his mother in Jaipur just four days ago.
• Irfan Khan made his Bollywood debut with Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay in 1988.
• Later, he did many films but was noticed with films like Maqbool, Life In A Metro, Paan Singh Tomar and Piku.
• He has also been associated with many international films like Slumdog Millionaire, A Mighty Heart, Jurassic World and The Amazing Spider-Man.
• His best though is Ang Lee's Life Of Pi which was a huge commercial success.

8. Former Footballer Michael Robinson passed away

• The former Brighton and Liverpool striker Michael Robinson passed away on 28 April. He was 61-years-old. He was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2018.
• Robinson helped Liverpool squad to win the league title, European Cup and League Cup with the Reds in 1983-84. He also played for Preston, Manchester City, Brighton, and Queens Park Rangers club. In the year 1989, he finished his career with La Liga club Osasuna, the Spanish football team. 
• He had an award-winning broadcasting career in Spain Robinson has won 24 caps in total for the Republic of Ireland, scoring four goals.

9. CSIR developed robot named HCARD to assist frontline COVID-19 healthcare warriors

• HCARD robot is developed by Durgapur-based CSIR lab, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute. The device is equipped with various state-of-the-art technologies and works both in automatic as well as manual modes of navigation.
• This robot can be controlled and monitored by a nursing booth with a control station having such features as navigation, drawer activation for providing medicines and food to patients, sample collection and audio-visual communication.
• Prof. (Dr.) Harish Hirani, Director, CSIR-CMERI stated that “This Hospital Care Assistive Robotic Device could be effective for frontline healthcare officials dealing with COVID-19 patients in delivering services while maintaining mandatory physical distancing”. The cost of this device is less than Rs 5 lakh and the weight is less than 80 kilograms, added Prof. Hirani.

10. AIU bans Indian runner  Jhuma Khatun for 4 years for failing dope test

•  The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has banned the Indian middle-distance runner, Jhuma Khatun for 4 years for using banned substances (Steroids) for the doping case from 2018. 
• The sample from Jhuma Khatun was collected during the National Inter-State Championships in June 2018 in Guwahati meet. 
• Khatun had won a bronze medal each in 1,500m and 5,000m at the Championships in Guwahati.

Foot Notes: About AIU(Athletics Integrity Unit)
Founded: 3 April 2017
Head:  Brett Clothier