Daily Wrap: RBI to issue new ₹20 note; Modi’s assets touch ₹2.5 crore

Depression over Bay of Bengal intensifies into cyclonic storm

The depression over southeast Bay of Bengal has intensified into a cyclonic storm named Fani, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) said on April 27. Speaking to the The Federal, S Balachandran, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said, “The storm, named ‘Fani’ is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm within a day’s time. It is expected to move northwestwards and reach north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh coasts on April 30.”

Modi’s assets grow by 10% to touch ₹2.5 crore

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assets worth ₹2.5 crore, including a residential plot in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar. He had fixed deposits of ₹1.27 crore and ₹38,750 cash in hand, reports quoting his election affidavit said. This is an increase of approximately 10% over the 2014 assets of 1.65 crore.

Sri Lanka troops kill two suspected IS gunmen

Sri Lankan security forces raided a safe house of Islamic State affiliated militants in the east of the country and killed at least two men in an exchange of fire, the military said on April 27. Gunmen opened fire on troops when they attempted to storm the house in the town of Kalmunai, spokesman Sumith Atapattu said. The Ministry of External Affairs issued a travel advisory on April 27 advising Indian nationals intending to travel to Sri Lanka to not undertake non-essential travel.

Reserve Bank of India to issue new ₹20 notes

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday (April 26) announced that it will introduce a new series of ₹20 notes. The new notes will be in greenish yellow colour, bearing the Ellora cave motifs depicting the country’s cultural heritage. “All the banknotes in the denomination of ₹20 issued by the RBI in the earlier series will continue to be legal tender,” a statement said.

Thousands of tribals benefit from literacy drive in Kerala

Nearly 10,000 tribals, living in backward conditions, have been initiated into the world of letters in Kerala in the past two years, thanks to a drive by a government agency. According to statistics, a total of 9,975 tribal people have been benefited from three programmes successfully implemented by the Kerala State Literacy Mission (KSLM) in various hamlets across the southern state during the period 2017-19. There has been a nine-fold increase in the number of beneficiaries from the literacy programme during the period, compared to the years 2015-17, it said.

Rahul shares light moment with Priyanka at Kanpur airport

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who are on the campaign trail for the Lok Sabha polls, met each other at the Kanpur airport in Uttar Pradesh and shared a few light-hearted moments. Posting a video of their meeting on Facebook, Rahul Gandhi wrote: “Was nice meeting Priyanka at Kanpur Airport! Were headed to different meetings in UP.” “Let me tell you what it means be a good brother. What it means is that I am doing these massive long flights and I am going in a little helicopter squeezed up. And she is doing short flights and going in a big helicopter,” he says in the video, with Priyanka Gandhi laughing and saying “that is not true”.