1. BJP crosses over 10 crore members mark, becomes world’s largest party

i. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday claimed to have crossed the 10-crore membership mark continuing to be the “largest” party in the world.

ii. In a tweet, party president Amit Shah said this is milestone for any democratic movement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated BJP leaders and workers for achieving the feat.

iii. BJP Parliamentary Party gave a standing ovation on the completion of its 10 crore membership target to party President at the concluding session of party MPs workshop yesterday. The ongoing membership drive will come to an end on 30th of this month.

2. Sitaram Yechury named new general secretary of CPM

i. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) elected senior politburo member Sitaram Yechury as the new General Secretary.

iii. Sitaram Yechury replaces Prakash Karat who has completed his three terms as the Party General Secretary.

iii. The front-runners for taking the top spot of the party were Sitaram Yechury and S Ramachandran Pillai but with Pillai deciding to withdraw from the race, Sitaram Yechury was elected unanimously having support from the leaders of West Bengal that he represents in the Rajya Sabha.

iv. The names were recommended by the Party’s politburo to the new Central Committee on Saturday night and the outgoing Central Committee gave a go ahead for the names to the incoming Central Committee, which was placed before the Congress, who took the final call.

3. Nasim Zaidi takes charge as new Chief Election Commissioner of India

i. Nasim Zaidi has taken over as the Chief Election Commissioner of India on Sunday.

ii. He succeeded HS Brahma, who retired as the Chief Election Commissioner on Saturday.

iii. He will be the sole member of the three-member Election Commission, which has two vacant posts of Election Commissioners.

iv. He will have a tenure up to July, 2017. He is a 1976 batch IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh cadre.

4. Visakhapatnam, Navy’s new stealth destroyer launched in Mumbai

i. The first of P15-B stealth destroyers Visakhapatnam was launched at the naval investiture ceremony at Mazagaon Docks Limited (MDL) in Mumbai today.

The indigenously designed 163 m long stealth destroyer ship christened as Visakhapatnam on its launching.

ii. Indigenously developed twin tube torpedo launchers and rocket launchers will add punch to the ship’s anti-submarine capability.

iii. The vessel also has enhanced capabilities to operate in nucleaer, biological and chemical atmosphere.

5. Subodham project launched by Kerala Govt. to end liquor abuse

i. Kerala government launched Subodham project, to help people in the state to overcome addiction to liquor.

ii. The project was launched by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Art of Living Foundation founder Sri Sri Ravishankar in Kochi.

6. ICICI & Tech Mahindra, launches ‘Tap-n-Pay’ service

i. ICICI Bank partnered with Tech Mahindra launched a payment service ‘Tap-n-Pay’ based on the near-field communications (NFC) technology, enabling customers make over-the-counter payments without using cash

ii. It can be used for merchant payments by merely tapping a NFC-enabled mobile phone or a tag on the counter.

iii. The service is a close-end one, only for a close group of customers, like canteen payments at the work place, and not universal like a debit or credit card, the banks said in a statement, adding the merchant will have to first register for the service and then enroll customers for using it.

iv. Any person having any bank account, and not limited to ICICI customers, can avail the service, the statement said, adding a user will have to avail the NFC tag or configure it on the mobile phone.

7. World Heritage Day observed on 18th April 2015

i. World Heritage Day was observed every year across the world on 18 April.

ii. The day offers an opportunity to raise the public’s awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage and the efforts that are required to protect and conserve it, as well as draw attention to its vulnerability.

iii. The first world Heritage Day was celebrated on 18 April 1982 by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in Tunisia and was approved in 1983 by UNESCO.

8. Zeena Joharn & Rahul Pandita named 2015 Yale World Fellows in US

i. Two Indians Zeena Joharn and Rahul Pandita have been named by Yale University as its 2015 World Fellows, the signature global leadership development initiative at the prestigious US institution.

ii. Zeena Johar is a founded of SughaVazhvu Healthcare and IKP Centre for Technologies in Public Health (ICTPH) to create a primary- care delivery network through rural clinics.

iii. Rahul Pandita is a journalist and author from New Delhi has reported extensively about conflicts in Iraq and Sri Lanka and is known for his reportage on Maoist insurgency in central and eastern India, and on the turmoil in Kashmir.

iv. Both will arrive at the university later this year for an intensive four-month period of academic enrichment and leadership training.

Note: Yale World Fellows is Yale’s signature global leadership development initiative and a core element of the university’s ongoing commitment to internationalisation.

9. Novak Djokovic wins Monte Carlo Masters

i. Novak Djokovic defeated Tomas Berdych by 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to win the Monte Carlo title 2015.

ii. He became the first man to win the opening three Masters 1000 events in a season.

iii. His victory was his 17th straight win of the season and also marked a fourth straight Masters 1000 title after also winning at Paris Bercy last November.

iv. He now owns 52 career titles and 23 at the elite Masters level. He stands 19-2 over Berdych and 30-2 this season.

10. Bangladesh seal historic series win over Pakistan

i. In the second ODI played at Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Bangladesh chased down 240 to beat Pakistan by seven wickets and clinch the 3 match ODI series.

ii. Tamim Iqbal scored his second consecutive century, and stitched 118 runs for third wicket with Mushfiqur Rahim which paved way for victory.

iii. Iqbal remained not out at 116 while Rahim scored 65. Bangladesh overhauled the target with more than 11 overs to spare and seven wickets in hand.

iv. Earlier, batting first Pakistan recovered from 77 for 5 on behalf of half-centuries from Saad Nasim and Wahab Riaz to post 239 for 6 in 50 overs.

11. Lewis Hamilton wins Bahrain Grand Prix

i. Lewis Hamilton won the Bahrain Grand Prix title.

ii. The 30-year-old Briton, starting from the 42nd pole position of his career, led from lights to flag apart from two spells around the pit-stops to claim the 36th win of his career and his third in four races this year.

iii. Hamilton came home 3.3 seconds clear of Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari who stole second ahead of Nico Rosberg when the second Mercedes driver suffered a braking problem on the penultimate lap.

12. Pranjala wins Asian junior championship

i. India’s Y Pranjala defeated top seed Chinese Zheng Wushuang in the final to clinch the Asian Junior Tennis championship in New Delhi on Saturday.

ii. It was double delight for the 16-year-old Pranjala as she had won the doubles trophy on Friday.

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