• World Book and Copyright Day, also known as World Book Day, is celebrated every year on 23rd April in over 100 countries around the globe to honour the great works by authors around the world.
• The theme for World Book and Copyright Day 2024 is “Read Your Way.”
• World Book and Copyright Day was first celebrated on 23 April in 1995. UNESCO chose this day on 23rd April specifically to honour literary figures like William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes.

• InterGlobe Enterprises, which owns India’s largest airline IndiGo, will launch an all-electric air taxi service in India from Delhi’s Connaught Place to Haryana’s Gurugram by 2026.
• In November 2023, InterGlobe Enterprises entered into a deal with Archer Aviation to supply 200 eVTOL aircraft
• The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft can carry the pilot in addition to four passengers.

• World Creativity and Innovation Day is a global UN day celebrated on 21st April to raise awareness around the importance of creativity and innovation in problem solving with respect to advancing the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDG).
• The first World Creativity and Innovation Day was celebrated on April 21, 2018.

• Balraj Panwar secured India’s first Paris Olympics quota in rowing by finishing third in the men’s single scull event of the 2024 World Asian and Oceanian Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regetta in Chungju, South Korea.
• The 25-year-old Indian Army rower clocked 7:01.27 minutes to finish third in the 2000m race and seal the quota.

• National Civil Services Day is celebrated in India on 21 April every year. This day is dedicated to the civil servants and provides an opportunity for them to rededicate themselves to the citizens’ service.
• The first Civil Services Day was first held in Vigyan Bhawan on 21 April 2006.
• The origin of National Civil Service Day dates back to the speech by the first Home Minister of Independent India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. On April 21st, 1947, Patel addressed the probationers of Administrative Services Officers at Metcalf House in Delhi and referred to the civil servants as the steel frame of India in 1947 and the newly created Indian Administrative Service.

• Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22. Founded by American Senator Gaylord Nelson in the form of environmental education, the day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970.
• The theme of the Earth Day 2024 is “Planet vs. Plastics”.

• Senior IPS officer Nalin Prabhat has been appointed as the Director-General of National Security Guard (NSG).
• He has been appointed for a period up to August 31, 2028.
• He is a 1992 batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, is presently working as Additional Director General in CRPF.
• The ACC has also approved the appointment of Intelligence Bureau Additional Director Sapna Tewari as the Special Director in the agency. Tewari has been appointed for a tenure of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or up to the date of her superannuation i.e. April 30, 2026.

• Nepal takes a pioneering step in tourism inclusivity with its first Rainbow Tourism Conference, affirming itself as a safe destination for the LGBTQ+ community.
• The single-day international conference was organized by Mayako Pahichan Nepal, a non-governmental organisation in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board.
• The conference’s main objective is to position Nepal as an LGBT-friendly tourism destination
• The conference saw participation from around 120 individuals, including representatives from sexual minorities, NGOs, activists, writers, and media personnel from various countries such as Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Germany, Spain, and the US.

ABOUT RAINBOW TOURISM:-

• Rainbow tourism, also known as LGBT tourism or gay tourism, caters to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) travelers.
• It is a growing segment of the global tourism industry, with an estimated market value of over $200 billion annually.
• The economic impact of Rainbow tourism can be significant, as LGBT travelers often have higher disposable incomes and tend to spend more on travel compared to other segments.

• The Indian Navy has conducted Exercise Poorvi Lehar on east coast under the Operational Control of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command.
• The exercise was aimed at validation of procedures towards assessment of the Indian Navy’s preparedness to meet maritime security challenges in the region.

• India is in favour of “regulating”, and not eliminating, single-use plastic, ahead of week-long negotiations involving 192 countries that are expected to begin in Toronto, Canada, next week on getting the globe to progress on eliminating plastic pollution.
• In 2022, India brought into effect the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules (2021) that banned 19 categories of ‘single-use plastics.
• India has opted for language in the current version of the negotiating document, called a ‘zero draft’, that vouches for “regulating” instead of “not allowing”, the production, sale, import and export of problematic and avoidable plastic goods. It has, however, agreed to “science-based criteria” for identifying such plastics.
• The aim of negotiating countries is to implement global and national measures such as removing these products from the market, reducing production through alternative practices or non-plastic substitutes, and redesigning problematic items to meet criteria for sustainable and safe product design.

SINGLE USE PLASTIC: –

• Single-use plastics are goods that are made primarily from fossil fuel–based chemicals (petrochemicals) and are meant to be disposed of right after use—often, in mere minutes.
• Have huge carbon footprint.
• Single-use plastics are most commonly used for packaging and service ware, such as bottles, wrappers, straws, and bags.

U.S Stand on this: –

The United States also has a position closer to that of India and is not in favour of an outright stoppage of single use and avoidable plastics.