Dustlik Joint Military Exercise:
- The sixth edition of the India-Uzbekistan Joint Military Exercise Dustlik has begun in Pune.
- The exercise will continue till April 28.
- Joint Exercise DUSTLIK -VI is an annual training event held alternately in India and Uzbekistan.
- The last edition was held in Termez district of Uzbekistan in April 2024.
- The theme of the exercise will be based on the theme of joint multi-domain sub-legacy operations in a semi-urban environment.
- It will focus on responding to a terrorist act involving the seizure of a defined territory.
April 18: World Heritage Day.
- It is observed on April 18 every year to promote the protection of human heritage and to recognize the efforts of all relevant organizations in this field.
- The day was proclaimed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in 1982.
- It was recognized by the General Assembly of UNESCO in 1983.
Important Facts:
- India is set to surpass Germany and Japan to become the world’s third largest economy in the next three years, says NITI Aayog.
- The Defence Literature Festival “Kalam & Kavach 2.0” on defence technology and future warfare was held in New Delhi on April 15, 2025, organised by the Joint Centre for the Study of War.
- Delhi’s AIIMS has been ranked 97th in the world’s best hospitals.
- The Asian Paralympic Committee has announced that the 5th Asian Youth Para Games will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from December 7–14, 2025.
- The Defence Ministry has declared 2025 as the Year of Reforms.
- The Mumbai-Manmad Panchavati Express has been fitted with an ATM for the first time, making it India’s first onboard train ATM.
- An inscription museum will be set up at the Madurai World Tamil Sangam complex, where inscriptions that reveal the nature of the Tamil language and ancient history will be grouped by period.
- Tourism Minister R. Rajendran announced that Buddhist and Jain cultural centres will be set up in Kanchipuram and Madurai.
- Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated the Rs 1,882 crore data centre of the Sify company in Siruseri, near Chennai.
- Vatican City, considered the smallest country in the world, is the only country in the world where not a single child has been born in the last 96 years.