News Burger – Your Weekly Prep Diet – Week #3 (May)

• Indian Shooter Clinches Gold In Hannover, Germany:
  Indian shooter Heena Sidhu won a gold medal at the International Shooting Competitions of Hannover (ISCH). She is also a Commonwealth Game medallist.

 

• Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Takes Charge As I&B Minister:
  Mr Rathore takes over from former I&B Minister Smriti Irani, after a series of controversial situations that Ms Irani found herself in, including cancelling of licenses of journalists over 'fake news', and the Prasar Bharti controversy.
  Mr Rathore is a former Army officer and Olympic silver-medallist (shooting).
  In related news - Mr Amit Khare has been appointed as the new I&B secretary.

 

• India Is The 3rd Largest Solar Market In The World:
  According to a Mercom Communications report, India is behind only China and the US as the 3rd largest solar market in the world.

 

• IIM Ahmedabad Launches Bharat Inclusive Initiative:
  IIM A's Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) has launched a Bharat Inclusion Initiative, which will aim at channelising $25 Million towards backing start-ups.

 

• Shashank Manohar To Serve As ICC Chairman:
  Mr Manohar will serve his second term as the Chairman of the International Cricket Council.

 

• Nick Read To Be The CEO Of Vodafone:
  He will succeed Vittorio Colao as the CEO of the British Telecommunications giant. Nick Read is the current CFO of the Vodafone group, and he will take over from Colao in October.
  Vittorio Colao has been serving as the CEO of Vodafone for 10 years.

 

• Delhi To Become The Most Populous City:
  According to a report released by the United Nations, by 2050, 2/3 of the world's population will be living in cities, with maximum concentration across India, China and Nigeria. Currently, Tokyo is the world's most populated city, but it will be overtaken by Delhi in 2028, a UN representative said.

 

• Yeddyurappa Takes Oath As CM, Resigns Immediately After:
  To know more about what is happening in Karnataka, click here.

 

• V.K. Singh First Indian Minister To Visit North Korea In 2 Decades:
  Former Army Chief and current Minister of State for External Affairs, General (Retd.) VK Singh has made a surprise visit to North Korea. He met with the Foreign and Culture ministers of the NK government in Pyongyang.
  "The visit by Gen. Singh and the secrecy surrounding it suggests that India is trying to quietly rebuild ties with the reclusive regime, ostracised by most of the world due to its defiance of UNSC norms on nuclear weapons." - The Hindu

 

• India's First Solar-Powered Railway Station:
  Guwahati is now the first Indian Railway Station to be completely solar-powered. The station will help to reduce the carbon-footprint and will also help to reduce power costs.

 

• The USA, Guatemala, Paraguay Open Their Embassy In Jerusalem:
  Read more about the move here.
• Indore Is The Cleanest City In India:
  Indore is followed by Bhopal, and Chandigarh as the 3 cleanest cities of the country, according to a survey announced by Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

 

• China Launches First Privately Developed Rocket:
  The rocket called the "Chongqing Liangjiang Star" was developed by Beijing based firm 'OneSpace Technology'. The rocket uses energy-saving technology, such as wireless communications instead of wired internet that, by cutting weight, has helped lower fuel costs by about 30%.

 

• Centre Launches Clean-Up Drive For Beaches:
  The Union Environment Ministry has launched a clean-up drive for 24 beaches and water bodies, along with 24 polluted rivers.

 

• Freshwater Decline In India:
  NASA satellites have shown that due to groundwater extraction for irrigation of crops, the availability of freshwater has declined in Northern India. Read more about it in the link above.

 

• Shivangi Pathak Youngest Woman To Scale Mount Everest:
  The 16-year old Haryanavi girl has become the youngest Indian woman to scale Mt. Everest, the tallest peak in the world. She was congratulated by PM Modi for her achievement.

 

• CIA's First Female Director:
  Gina Haspel is the Central Intelligence Agency's first female director. She has replaced former CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who is now the US Secretary of State.
  This is a controversial move, as Ms Haspel was responsible for illegal interrogation techniques at a CIA "Black-site" in Thailand, following the World Trade Center terror attack of 2001.

 

• Dutch PM To Visit India:
  Prime Minister Mark Rutte of Netherlands will visit India on 24-25 May to solidify economic ties with India.

 

• UN To Send War Crimes Investigators To Gaza:
  The United Nations will send war crime investigators to Gaza, where Israelis have been killing Palestinians due to border protests by the latter party.
  Click here for all the latest updates on the situation in Gaza.

 

• Gujarat Government To Pay For Treatment Of Road Accident Victims:
  Read more about it in the link above.

 

• Rajinder Singh Named Hockey India President:
  Mr Singh was earlier the Senior Vice President of Hockey India and will take over as President from Ms. Mariamma Koshy.

 

• CRPF Raises Bastariya Battalion:
  The battalion consists of locals (male and female) from the worst Naxal-affected areas in Bastar.

 

• Pawel Pawlikowski Wins Best Director Award:
  "After the sudden death of his wife, director Pawel Pawlikowski hit a midlife crisis. So he returned to his native Warsaw – and made Ida, the film of his career"
  - The Guardian.
  Read more in the link above.

 

Which news item did you find the most interesting?

Let me know in the comments below!

Stay tuned for the May (4th Week) Weekly News Burger.