Daily Current affairs - April 18th, 2018 for all competitive exams
Every year, 18th April is celebrated Worldwide as World Heritage Day to
create awareness about Heritage among communities.
2018 theme: Heritage for Generations.
- A World Heritage site is classified as a natural or
man-made area or a structure that is of international importance, and a
space which requires special protection. These sites are officially
recognised by the UN and the United Nations Educational Scientific and
Cultural Organisation, also known as UNESCO. UNESCO believes that the
sites classified as World Heritage are important for humanity, and they
hold cultural and physical significance.
In 1982, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)
announced, 18 April as the “World Heritage Day”, approved by the General
Assembly of UNESCO in 1983, with the aim of enhancing awareness of the
importance of the cultural heritage of humankind, and redouble efforts to
protect and conserve the human heritage. As of 2018, India has 36 world
heritage sites, the sixth most of any country. Italy leads with 53 sites
followed by China with 52 sites.
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India to Grow at 7.4% in
2018: IMF
The International Monetary
Fund (IMF) has stated that India is expected to grow at
7.4% in 2018 and 7.8% in 2019 and would re-emerge as
one of the fastest growing major economies in the period.
- The IMF explained this is due to the strong private
consumption as well as fading transitory effects of the currency exchange
initiative and implementation of the national goods and services
tax.
Government launched DARPAN-PLI App
The government has launched DARPAN-Postal Life Insurance App. The App will
help in collection of premium for postal life insurance and rural postal life
insurance policies at branch post offices anywhere in India, with online
updation of the policies.
- With a view to achieve total digitisation of postal
operations in the country, the department has launched Digital Advancement
of Rural Post office for a new India (DARPAN) Project, which aims at
connecting all one lakh 29 thousand Rural Branch Post Offices.
Law commission recommended Simultaneous elections
A draft white paper released by the Law Commission of India has recommended
holding of simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies, possibly
in 2019. It suggests amending the Constitution to realise this objective.
- Simultaneous elections were held in the country
during the first two decades after Independence up to 1967. Dissolution of
certain Assemblies in 1968 and 1969 followed by the dissolution of the Lok
Sabha led to the “disruption of the conduct of simultaneous elections.
- Simultaneous elections in the country may be
restored in the nation by amending the Constitution, Representation of the
People Act of 1951 and the Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha and
Assemblies.
Simultaneous elections: Is it a good idea
- This will help save public money.
- It will be a big relief for political parties that
are always in campaign mode.
- It will allow political parties to focus more on
policy and governance.
Need for simultaneous elections
- To reduce unnecessary expenditures
- To reduce the unnecessary use of manpower
- Security concerns
Law Commission of India is an executive body established by an order of
the Government of India. Its major function is to work for legal reform. Its
membership primarily comprises legal experts, who are entrusted a mandate by
the Government. The Commission is established for a fixed tenure and works as
an advisory body to the Ministry of Law and Justice. The first Law Commission
was established during the British Raj era in 1834 by the Charter Act of
1833. After that, three more Commissions were established in pre-independent
India. The first Law Commission of independent India was established in 1955
for a three-year term.
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Government decides to set
up district plan to accelerate growth of districts by 3 %
The government has decided
to set up a district plan to accelerate the growth of districts by 3 per cent.
- Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu
stated an addition of 3 per cent growth at the district level will ensure
that 5 trillion dollars target for the Indian economy becomes achievable.
- The initiative will begin with six districts,
including Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, Varanasi in Uttar
Pradesh, Muzaffarpur in Bihar, Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Solan
in Himachal Pradesh.
Commerce Ministry launches
digital platform for MSME exporters
Commerce and Industry
Minister launched the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO)
GlobalLinker platform for MSME exporters in New Delhi.
- This move is aimed at assisting the Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in exports.
- This initiative will help in expanding India's
multi-focused export strategy and also aid in connecting art and artisans
to the market. FIEO GlobalLinker is setup with a view to make the business
growth of SMEs simpler, more profitable and enjoyable.
Atal Tinkering Labs community day held across India
The ATL Community Day was held across India, over the course of April 13 –
16. The initiative is an effort to spread awareness as well as engage the local
communities in the neighbourhood of an Atal Tinkering Lab, to come and
experience the exciting new world of science and future technologies.
- AIM has selected more than 2400 schools in 2017 for
establishing Atal Tinkering Labs.
With a vision to ‘Cultivate one Million children in India as Neoteric
Innovators’, Atal Innovation Mission is establishing Atal Tinkering
Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across India.
The objective of this scheme is to foster curiosity, creativity and
imagination in young minds; and inculcate skills such as design mindset,
computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing etc.
AIM will provide grant-in-aid that includes a one-time establishment cost
of Rs. 10 lakh and operational expenses of Rs. 10 lakh for a maximum period
of 5 years to each ATL. Schools (minimum Grade VI – X) managed by Government,
local body or private trusts/society can set up ATL.
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NGT asks Ministry to
finalise national policy on forest fires
The National Green Tribunal
has directed the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to
finalise the National Policy on Forest Fire within two weeks, after noting that
forest fires generally occur in the month of April.
- The green panel had earlier come down heavily on the
Centre for remaining a “mute spectator” to the recurring forest fires in
the hill States and asked the Environment Ministry to formulate a national
policy.
- The directions came while the Bench was hearing a
plea filed by senior advocate Rajiv Dutta who had claimed that “if no
urgent steps are taken, further devastation would be caused to a huge
chunk of flora and fauna which are considered wealth of the nation”.
Environment Ministry comes out with draft National
clean air programme
The Environment Ministry has come out with a draft national action plan
proposing multiple strategies to reduce air pollution.
- To augment and evolve an effective and a proficient
ambient air quality monitoring network across the country to ensure
comprehensive and reliable database.
- To have efficient data dissemination and a public
outreach mechanism for timely measures for prevention and mitigation of
air pollution.
- To have a feasible management plan for prevention,
control and abatement of air pollution.
Under the NCAP, the ministry plans to take a host of measures to bring down
air pollution.
- These include augmenting the air quality monitoring
network, identification of alternative technology for real-time
monitoring, setting up of 10 city super network, indoor air pollution
monitoring and management and air pollution health impact studies.
- Other measures include air quality forecasting
system, issuance of notification on dust management, a three-tier
mechanism for review, assessment and inspection for implementation and a
national emission inventory.
More than 80% of cities in the country where air quality is monitored are
severely polluted and it impacts 47 million children across the country.
Also, 580 millions number of people in India don’t even have a single air
quality monitoring stations in districts they are living.
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Panic button on phones set
for another round of trial in May
The much-awaited panic
button facility on mobile phones will undergo another round of trial in Uttar
Pradesh in May before it is rolled out in a phased manner across the country.
- In April 2016, the government directed mobile
manufacturers to provide the facility from January 2017 to ensure better
safety for women. However, the implementation of its order has been
delayed for several reasons.
- The first round of trial was conducted in U.P. for
five days from March 18, following which the Ministries of Women and Child
Development, Home Affairs and Electronics and Information Technology
carried out a review.
The test run is being conducted only
for smartphone users. More than 250 volunteers participated in the trial and
a total of 2,000 panic calls were generated. The Justice Verma Committee
constituted after the 2012 Delhi gangrape had recommended setting up of a
public emergency response system.
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Centre handed over Terms of Reference of Mahanadi
water dispute tribunal
Central Government recently handed over reference of Mahanadi Water
Disputes Tribunal under Section 5 (1) of the Inter-State River Water Disputes
Act (ISRWD), 1956 to Chairman of the tribunal and Supreme Court Judge, Justice
A M Khanwilkar.
- The Tribunal has been constituted following orders
of the Supreme Court. The Government of Odisha had sought to refer the
water dispute regarding the inter-state river Mahanadi and its river
valley to a Tribunal for adjudication under the Inter-State River Water
Disputes Act, 1956.
The tribunal will be formed according to the provisions of the
Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD), 1956. It will have a chairperson
and two other members nominated by the Chief Justice of India from among the
judges of the apex court or high courts. As per provisions of the ISRWD Act,
1956 the Tribunal is required to submit its report and decision within a
period of 3 years which can be extended to a further period not exceeding 2
years due to unavoidable reasons.
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Odisha and Chhattisgarh are locked in a dispute over the Mahanadi waters
since the mid-80s. Odisha claimed that Chhattisgarh government has been
constructing dams in the upper reaches of the Mahanadi, depriving its farmers
who are heavily dependent on the rivers waters. Chhattisgarh has been against
the setting up of a tribunal, and argued that the water sharing agreement was
with the erstwhile Madhya Pradesh government, before the state was carved out
in 2000.
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Six more states to launch
intra-state e-way bill
Six more States have decided
to implement the e-way bill for intra-state movement of goods from 20th of this
month.
- The States are Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Tripura,
Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar
Modi, who heads the Group of Ministers on return simplification under GST
informed the media about the decision in New Delhi.
- Earlier, the e-Way bill system for intra-state
movement of goods was implemented for Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala from 15th of this month.
In Karnataka, it was implemented along
with inter-state implementation on 1st of April.E-Way Bill system for all
inter-state movement of goods has already been rolled-out from 1st of this
month.
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ASI using GPR to map contours of the Bagh-e-Naya
Qila
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will be using Ground Penetrating
Radar (GPR) to map the contours of the area around the Bagh-e-Naya Qila
excavated garden inside the Golconda Fort. It has roped in the Indian Institute
of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) to carry out the mapping.
- The Naya Qila garden inside Golconda Fort was built
by successive rulers of the Deccan and is one of the few symmetrical
gardens extant.
- There are strange figures and animals worked out of
stone and stucco on the walls of the outer fort facing the Naya Qila.
In 2014, when the ASI excavated the area after diverting the water flow,
it discovered water channels, settlement tanks, walkways, fountains, gravity
pumps, and a host of other garden relics.
Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical method that uses radar
pulses to image the subsurface. This nondestructive method uses
electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band (UHF/VHF frequencies) of the
radio spectrum, and detects the reflected signals from subsurface structures.
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Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) uses a high frequency radio signal that is
transmitted into the ground and reflected signals are returned to the
receiver and stored on digital media. The computer measures the time taken
for a pulse to travel to and from the target which indicates its depth and
location. The reflected signals are interpreted by the system and displayed
on the unit’s LCD panel.
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India wins election to
crucial NGO committee in UN
India has won an
election to a crucial non-governmental organisation committee in
the United Nations.
- It topped the election held by the Committee on
Non-Governmental Organizations in the Asia Pacific States category.
- India got the highest number of votes at 46,
followed by Pakistan 43, Bahrain 40 and China 39.
- The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations is a
standing committee of Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
List of MOUs and
Agreements between India and Denmark
- MOU on Cooperation in the field of Sustainable and
Smart Urban Development between the Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs
of India and the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs of
Denmark.
- MOU on Cooperation in the fields of Animal Husbandry
and Dairying between Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying &
Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare of India and the
Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, Ministry of Environment and
Food of Denmark.
- MOU on Food Safety Cooperation between the Food
Safety and Standards Authority of India and the Danish Veterinary and Food
Administration.
- MOU on Cooperation in Agricultural Research and
Education between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the
University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Science, Denmark.
India, France to jointly
conduct missions to Mars, Venus
The Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) and its French counterpart Centre National D’Etudes
Spatiales (CNES) are set to collaborate on missions to Mars and Venus.
- The agreement was part of a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU), where 14 contracts including defence and nuclear
energy worth over Rs.1 lakh crore were signed during French President
Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India last month.
Bisket Jatra being
celebrated in Nepal
The Jatra begins in
Nepal. It is believed that the festival started during Malla dynasty.
- In Nepal, the famous Bisket Jatra is being
celebrated in Bhaktapur and other parts of Kathmandu valley.
- The nine day annual festival marks beginning of
Nepali new year. The Jatra begins four days before the start of new year.
Taiwan to open trade
office in India
Taiwan will next month open
a trade office in New Delhi, part of its efforts to expand business ties with
Asia’s third largest economy amid China’s insistence on One China policy.
- As Taiwan and India do not have a diplomatic
relationship, the trade office in New Delhi is expected to provide
services to Indian and Taiwanese companies to expand business.
- India’s bilateral trade with the island-nation is
expanding steadily touching $6.3 billion in 2017, up a quarter on the
previous year.
Taiwan
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Capital
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Taipei
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Currency
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New Taiwan Dollar
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President
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Tsai Ing-wen
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India, US set up joint
task force on natural gas
India and the US decided to
set up a joint task force on natural gas with a view to promote strategic and
economic interest of the two nations.
- The two sides, during the ministerial level talks,
also reaffirmed their commitment to early and full implementation of their
civil nuclear partnership, including the Westinghouse civil nuclear
project at Kovvada.
- As a first step in realising the full potential of
the Strategic Energy Partnership, the US and India are pleased to announce
the US-India Natural Gas Task Force.
- The task force provides a team of US and Indian
industry experts with a mandate to propose, develop, and convey,
innovative policy recommendations to the Government of India in support of
its vision for natural gas in the economy of India.
India, the US to use
Russian model for N-plant set-up
India and the US are inching
towards a solution to getting Westing house nuclear power reactors in
India.
- Westinghouse is very much on the verge of having
their business issues addressed and going forward.
- Officials acknowledged close conversations between
Westinghouse and NPCIL on the building of the reactors.
China, Japan hold ‘reset’
talks ahead of Abe’s U.S. visit
The decision of the U.S. to
raise higher tariff walls is energising a dialogue between China and Japan —
two countries that are already engaged in resetting their once-troubled ties.
- Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi
has concluded a visit to Tokyo, ahead of the Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe’s visit to the U.S..
- A diplomatic source told ahead of the talks
that China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Japan’s Indo-Pacific
blueprint are two vectors that both countries would need to address.
Japan has proposed “a free and open
Indo-Pacific” with the stated purpose of enhancing “connectivity” between
Asia and Africa so as “to promote the stability and prosperity of the regions
as a whole”.
Japan sees India, Australia and the
U.S. as its main partners in implementing the Indo-Pacific strategy.
Observers point out that Mr. Abe is expected to have a conversation on the
Indo-Pacific doctrine during his talks with Mr. Trump later in the week.
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Egypt’s mufti issues fatwa
against buying Facebook ‘likes’
Egypt’s top mufti has issued
a fatwa saying that buying Facebook “likes” is prohibited under Islam because
it’s a form of fraud or deception.
- Grand Mufti Shawki Allam posted on the Facebook page
of his insitution that it is “religiously prohibited” to pay someone to
click a “like” on a promotion.
OPCW team enters Syria’s
Douma
International investigators
entered Douma, the Syrian town hit by an alleged chemical attack, after days of
delay and warnings by Western powers that crucial evidence had likely been
removed.
- The suspected gas attack on April 7 reportedly left
more than 40 people dead and was blamed by Western powers on the regime of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In response, the U.S., France and
Britain conducted unprecedented missile strikes on Syrian military
installations.
France and the U.S. have appeared to
question the purpose of such a mission, warning that any incriminating
evidence had likely been removed by now.
Also, in an impassioned defence to the
European Parliament, France’s President Emmanuel Macron admitted
that strikes had been a more political than military decision. Mr.
Macron was also set to strip Mr. Assad of the prestigious award Legion d’Honneur
he was granted by former President Jacques Chirac in 2001.
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Insulator turned into
conductor in quadrillionth of a second
A Russia-Germany research
collaboration has used femto second (millionths of a billionth of a second)
laser pulses to make an insulating material conduct electricity.
- The team converted Mott insulators,
which impede electron flow at low temperatures.
- Computers could theoretically be
made around 1000 times faster by “turbo-charging” their electrical
components with light pulses.
TRAI unveils beta site for
comparison of telcos’ tariffs
The Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) unveiled the beta version of a portal that aims to
bring on one platform, the tariffs offered by telecom operators in different
service areas.
- The move is expected to provide
more transparency and information on multiple tariff offerings by telcos,
helping consumers at large.
- To enable consumers see tariffs of
different TSPs (telecom service providers) and different Licensed Service
Areas (LSAs) at a single place, a beta version of the portal, namely
www.tariff.trai.gov.in has been released.
- As a first step, TRAI has made
tariff data available for the Delhi circle, and sought user feedback about
the new site.
Amazon launches web
browser in India which uses less data
Amazon has launched an
Android web browser app called Internet which is designed to use minimal
storage and data.
- The app supports private tabs that
don’t save browser history and shows cricket news and general headlines on
its homepage.
- It’s only available to users in
India for now and is supported on devices running Android 5.0 or higher.
Intel launches
silicon-level technology to protect user data
Global chip-maker Intel on
Tuesday launched silicon-level cyber threat detection technology to protect
customers’ data.
- Intel Threat
Detection Technology” leverages silicon-level telemetry and functionality
to help organisations improve the detection of advanced cyber threats and
exploits.
- Intel also
announced implementation plans by Microsoft and Cisco.
CRISIL reaffirms rating on
ICICI Bank at ‘AAA/Stable’
Credit rating agency CRISIL
has reaffirmed its ratings on ICICI Bank’s debt instruments – Upper Tier-II
Bonds aggregating ₹8,495 crore, Tier-I
Perpetual Bonds aggregating Rs.518 crore, and Bonds/Debentures
aggregating Rs.629 crore – at ‘AAA/Stable’.
Instruments with ‘AAA’ rating are
considered to have the highest degree of safety regarding timely servicing of
financial obligations. Such instruments carry the lowest credit risk. While
re-affirming the ratings, the agency said it has taken note of ICICI Bank
board’s response to the recent allegations of potential conflict of interest
pertaining to the bank’s exposure to Videocon Group.
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SAARC regional summit held
in Hyderabad
Agricultural experts from
SAARC nations will present a position paper on ways to address impact of
climate change on agriculture at the SAARC regional summit, begins in
Hyderabad.
- More than 80
senior officers and agricultural experts from Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended the
inaugural session of the three-day conference in Hyderabad.
- The experts will
also discuss adaptation measures for climate resilient agrarian systems.
- The conference on
“Climate Resilient Agricultural Policies, Strategies and Programmes” was
inaugurated by Telengana Chief Secretary Shailendra Kumar Joshi, at
ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM).
Indian Overseas Bank
appoints new CFO
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB)
has a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is C Haridas.
Prior to this elevation,
Haridas was General Manager at this public sector bank
Indian Overseas Bank
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Headquarters
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Chennai
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Tagline
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Good people to grow with
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MD and CEO
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R. Subramaniakumar
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Modi holds bilateral
meetings with PMs of Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Norway
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Finland, Denmark,
Iceland and Norway.
- He discussed ways
to enhance ties with these Nordic countries in key areas such as
trade and investment, and renewable energy.
- Modi met the
leaders of the four Nordic countries on the sidelines of the India-Nordic
Summit.
- After the
bilateral meeting between Modi and Rasmussen, documents were exchanged
between the two sides in areas of animal husbandry.
Sushma Swaraj to meet
Chinese FM Wang Yi for key talks before Modi visit
Sushma Swaraj will hold key
talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
- Swaraj will be in
China on April 22 and 23 and in Mongolia during April 24-25.
- Besides laying
the groundwork for the SCO Summit in the coastal city of Qingdao in June,
to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- Swaraj last came
to Beijing in February 2015, when she also had an audience with President
Xi Jinping.
Trump formally nominates
Gina Haspel to be next CIA director
President Donald Trump
formally notified Congress Wednesday that deputy CIA director Gina Haspel is
his pick to lead the agency.
- Trump tweeted
last month that he had selected Haspel to replace Mike Pompeo, who is
being considered to be secretary of state.
- But the president
had not sent the formal paperwork to Capitol Hill.
Aditi Rao Hydari to
receive Dadasaheb Phalke excellence award for Bhoomi
Aditi Rao Hydari will
receive Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award 2018 for the Best
Leading Lady (Critics Award) for her memorable performance in Bhoomi.
- The award
ceremony will be held in Mumbai. It will be attended by producers,
directors, distributors and exhibitors among others from the film
fraternity.
Former first lady Barbara
Bush dies at age 92
Barbara Bush, the
snowy-haired first lady whose plainspoken manner and utter lack of pretence
died Tuesday.
- Family
spokesman Jim McGrath confirmed the death in a statement.
- Eight years after
leaving the nation’s capital, Mrs Bush stood with her husband as their son
George W. was sworn in as president.
Virat Kohli surpasses
Suresh Raina to become highest run-getter in IPL history
Virat Kohli on Tuesday
surpassed Chennai Super Kings’ veteran Suresh Raina to become the leading
run-scorer in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL).
- Kohli achieved
the feat during his valiant knock of 92 not out against Mumbai Indians
(MI) as RCB stumbled to their second defeat in four matches so far in the
tournament.
- Kohli went past
Raina’s total of 4,558 runs in IPL history when he reached the score of
32.
