19th April 2015 Daily Current Affairs Updates

1) Nasim Zaidi to assumed charge as new Chief Election Commissioner:

--> Nasim Zaidi, on 19 April 2015, assumed charge as the 20th Chief Election Commissioner succeeding H.S. Bramha who retired on 18 April 2015 after completing his term.

--> Zaidi will have a tenure up to July, 2017 when he attains the age of 65.

--> Incidentally, he is the only one left in the three-member constitutional body as the others have retired.

--> The government is yet to fill up the vacancies of two Election Commissioners. 

2) Sitaram Yechury is new general secretary of CPI-M:

--> Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechury was elected the fifth general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on 19 April 2015.

--> Outgoing general secretary Prakash Karat proposed Yechury’s name for general secretary which was unanimously accepted.

--> The official announcement of the leadership change in the CPI (M) came towards the end of the six-day party congress at Visakhapatnam .

-->  Sitaram Yechury takes over the reins of the party from Prakash Karat, who has completed three terms as general secretary of the party.

Previous four general secretaries of CPI (M): Sundarayya(1964-1978), EMS Namboodiripad(1978-1992), Harkishan Singh Surjeet(1992-2005), Prakash Karat(2005-2015)

3) Lewis Hamilton won Bahrain Grand Prix:

--> Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton extended his lead in this year's title race on 19 April 2015 when he drove to a near-flawless victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

--> 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.

--> Hamilton's victory lifted him to 93 points in the championship, giving him a clear lead ahead of Rosberg, on 66 points.

4) Bangladesh sets historic series-win against Pakistan:

--> Bangladesh recorded their first series win against Pakistan after opener Tamim Iqbal’s second successive century secured a seven-wicket victory in the second one-day international on 19 April 2015.

5) Pranjala wins Asian junior championship:

--> India's Y Pranjala clinched the Asian Junior Tennis championship title after a come-from-behind victory over top seed Chinese Zheng Wushuang at New Delhi on 18 April 2015.

--> She also had won the Asian Junior Tennis doubles title along with partner Zheng Wushuang on 17 April 2015.

6) Congress launched 'Zameen Wapsi' website against land bill:

--> Taking the battle on the land bill issue to social media, Congress on 19 April 2015 launched a "Zameen Wapsi" website.

7) Mary Kom won best film at Stockholm International Film Festival:

--> Omung Kumar's 2014 directorial "Mary Kom", which was selected for the Stockholm International Film Festival Junior (SIFFJ), has won the Best Film award and has been endowed with the Bronze Horse Award, the festival's top honour.

--> The jury for the junior section of the festival consisted of children from the age of nine to 17.