1. India to host 5th meeting of SAARC health ministers

i. The 5th meeting of SAARC health ministers will be held in India.

ii. The meeting will be planned on key issues including HIV/AIDS, prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases and to strengthen collaborations amongst the nations.

iii.  The purpose of the meeting to develop a road map for strengthening collaboration among SAARC countries on a number of issues and challenges faced by them

iv. The 4th meeting of the SAARC Health Ministers was held at Maldives in April 2012.

v. SAARC countries comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, account for nearly a quarter of the world population. 

2. Central Bank of India tops list with highest NPAs

i. According to the data provided by the RBI, Central Bank of India’s 21.5 per cent assets are either bad or have been restructured to save them turning non-performing assets (NPAs).

ii. Central Bank of India has topped the list of public sector banks with maximum bad loans including restructured assets as a percentage of total advances.

iii. The other banks which have significant amount of gross NPAs and restructured loans include, United Bank of India (19.04 per cent), Punjab & Sind Bank (18.25 per cent) and Punjab National Bank with 17.85 per cent as on December 2014.

iv. Indian Overseas Bank, State Bank of Patiala, Allahabad Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce all have bad and restructured loans in excess of 15 per cent.

v. The rising bad loans have become a major concern for the Reserve Bank as well as the government.

3. Annadurai become new Director of ISRO Satellite Centre

i. M Annadurai has become new director of ISRO Satellite Centre. He replaced S K Shivakumar.

ii. Annadurai, born on July 2, 1958, graduated in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, obtained his Post Graduate degree in Applied Electronics from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore and Doctoral degree from Anna University, Coimbatore.

iii. During the period 1992 -2005, Annadurai was the lead member of ISRO’s satellite mission team and managed eight INSAT Missions as the Mission Director and brought about the efficient ground automation for satellite operations.

4. National Air Quality Index launched by Prime Minister

i. National Air Quality Index launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.

ii. The index will inform the public about air quality in a simple and an easily understandable form and would enhance public awareness and involvement in air quality improvement.

iii. The AQI would be available for 10 cities, on a real-time basis. 46 cities, with a population of more than one million and 20 state capitals will be covered in the next couple of years.

5. BJP celebrates foundation day

i. The Bharatiya Janata Party is celebrating its foundation day today, days after it emerged as the largest political party in the world.

ii. The party turned 35 on April 6, the day the party was formed in 1980.

iii. Though the BJP was formally formed in 1980, its origins can be traced to the formation of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, popularly known as the Jan Sangh, by Syama Prasad Mookerjee in 1951.

iv. The Jan Sangh merged with the Janata Party in 1977, but the experiment was short-lived.

v. The BJP was spun off as a separate party on 6 April 1980 with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as its president.

vi. Coincidentally, when the BJP finally formed a government as the head of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on 16 May 1996, once again, it was under Vajpayee’s leadership. But this government lasted only 13 days. It returned to power on 19 March 1998 and remained there till 22 May 2004, spanning the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha.

vii. Vajpayee became the longest serving non-Congress prime minister. He was in office for 2,272 days over three terms.

viii. Various programmes are being organised by the party at the national and state level across the country to commemorate the occasion.

6. Mission Indradhanush started in UP

i. In Uttar Pradesh, the state government today kick started the Mission Indradhanush to immunise all the children of the state.

ii. Official sources said focus will be given to 44 high priority districts where immunisation is below the state average.

iii. Mission Indradhanush is being launched in one hundred two districts of the country out of which 44 are in Uttar Pradesh.

7. Navy receives first Scorpene-class submarine

i. Indian Navy’s first Scorpene submarine under Project 75 was undocked on Monday at the Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in the presence of the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

ii. The diesel-electric powered Scorpene submarine to be called INS Kalvari after commissioning will undergo extensive sea trials before it is cleared to formally join the Indian Navy.

iii. India is building six Scorpene submarines with the help of French firm DCNS at MDL. Though the first Scorpene submarine was scheduled to be handed over in 2012, the revised dates are now September 2016.

8. Golden Peacock National Quality Award conferred on Delhi airport

i. Golden Peacock National Quality Award for the year 2015 conferred on Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).

ii. DIAL Chief Executive Prabhakara Rao said “The award highlights the best in class quality process that we have been building up at DIAL over the years, which have brought significant results and many awards and accolades.

iii. Golden Peacock Awards were founded by the Institute of Directors, India in 1991 and are globally regarded as a benchmark of corporate excellence.

10. Novak Djokovic lifted the Men’s Singles Miami Open trophy

i. World number one Novak Djokovic has lifted the Men’s Singles trophy.

ii. He defeated Andy Murray for the seventh straight time to win the final, 7-6, 4-6, 6-0. This was Djokovic’s fifth Miami Open trophy.

11. Serena Williams won Women’s Singles Miami Open Trophy

i. World number one Serena Williams thrashed Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro to win her eighth Miami Open title.

ii. She defeated Carla Suarez by 6-2 6-0 in 56
minutes to secure her third straight title at Crandon Park.

12. Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis clinch Doubles
title at Miami Open

i. Sania Mirza
and her Swiss team-mate Martina Hingis have clinched the Miami Open Tennis
women’s doubles title.

ii. In the title clash in Florida late last
night, the top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated the second placed Russian duo of
Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova, 7-5, 6-1 to win its second consecutive
title as a team.

iii. Mirza and Hingis had won the Indian Wells
Open two weeks ago.

To get fresh updates about Banking Exams on your Facebook & Twitter timelines, subscribe to our pages created specifically for them. We will be posting only those exam specific links on these pages:

Bank PO:

FB: https://www.facebook.com/pagalguybankpo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaGaLGuYBankPO

SSC & Other Exams:

FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagalguy-SSC-CGL-Others/879667042056262

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pagalguyssc