Daily Current Affairs 16 April 2026

The Union Cabinet has approved Phase-2 of the Jaipur Metro Project, which involves the development of a 41 km long corridor connecting Prahladpura to Todi Mod at an estimated cost of ₹13,037.66 crore.

The Cabinet has also authorized the revised cost for the HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd (HRRL) project. The total outlay of the project has been increased from ₹43,129 crore to ₹79,459 crore.

The central government has introduced ‘The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026’ to increase the maximum strength of the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 seats. The move aims to facilitate the immediate implementation of the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ (Women’s Reservation Act) by reserving one-third of the house, totaling 283 seats, for women in the 2029 general elections.

The expansion is designed to accommodate the reservation for women without reducing the existing number of general category seats. Under the proposed revision, the 850 seats will be distributed with 815 seats for States and 35 seats for Union Territories (UTs).

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has launched the ‘Arogya Van’ (health forest) initiative to establish thematic corridors of medicinal tree plantations along the National Highways. The project aims to enhance biodiversity and promote traditional medicine systems like Ayurveda while conserving indigenous medicinal flora.

In the first phase, the project covers 17 land parcels spanning 62.8 hectares. It involves the planting of 67.46 thousand medicinal trees belonging to 36 distinct species.

According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation increased to 3.88% in March 2026 from 2.13% in February 2026.

According to the report “South Asia Economic (SAE) Economic Update April, 2026: Working with Industrial Policy” released by the World Bank (WB), the GDP growth of India for FY27 is revised upwards to 6.6% from the earlier projection of 6.3%.

NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has onboarded Axis Bank onto the “Banking Connect” platform.

With this, the platform is now available across 8 major banks, including State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank. The platform also integrates 11 Payment Aggregators (PAs) to facilitate streamlined digital payment services.

The SEBI has introduced a two-pronged, one-time relief measure for companies to ease IPO validity timelines and Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) compliance requirements.

The measure extends the validity of “SEBI Observation Letters” (IPO approvals) that expire between April and September 2026 until September 2026. SEBI also granted a one-time relaxation for listed companies to meet the 25% MPS threshold if their deadlines fall within the same period of April to September 2026.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has signed an MoU with the SEBI to enhance cooperation in addressing the misuse of telecom resources in securities market frauds and investment related scams.

The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) in Mohali has signed a grant agreement with Novartis Healthcare Pvt Ltd (NHPL) to implement the “Development Pioneer Grant”.

The initiative aims to strengthen industry-academia synergy by providing financial backing for research-oriented projects. It will also support faculty research and enhance innovation and Research and Development (R&D) capabilities at the institute.

USA-based GE Aerospace and the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) have finalized a technical agreement for the co-production of F414 engines. The deal has been under development for 3 years.

The engines will power the next-generation fighter aircraft of India, as the country intends to procure 120-130 such jets. These aircraft are planned to replace the existing fleet of Russian made aircraft currently in service.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, representing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), has become the first fast bowler in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to reach the 200-wicket milestone.

He is the second bowler overall to achieve this feat, following the record set by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

CD Gopinath, the oldest living Indian Test cricketer, passed away at 96. He was the world’s second-oldest living Test cricketer after Neil Harvey (97).

Following his demise, former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Chandu Patankar (95) has become the oldest living Indian Test cricketer.

CRPF Valour Day (Shaurya Diwas):

Day – April 9

Commemorating – Valour displayed by the CRPF soldiers during the

Battle of Sardar Post in Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, in 1965