This week’s News Burger is:
- Mohamed Salah Named PFA Player Of The Year:
Egyptian footballer Mohamed Salah of Liverpool FC has been named the PFA Player of the year. Salah, who joined Liverpool FC for AS Roma in 2017, has scored 33 goals in 47 appearances for the English club, helping them reach the ongoing Champion's League Semi-finals (against his former team Roma).
In related news - Manchester City's Leroy Sane wins the PFA Young Player of The Year Award. The 22-year old, who joined Manchester City from Schalke 04, has scored 10 goals in 29 appearances for the club this season and has been compared to Bayern Munich legend Arjen Robben by former Manchester United player Gary Neville.
- Mario Abdo Benitez Elected As Paraguay's President:
Benitez won with 46.44% of the total votes and is the son of Alfredo Stroessner, the dictator who ruled Paraguay for 35 years.
- Venkaiah Naidu Rejects Impeachment Notice Against CJI Misra:
The Rajya Sabha chairman rejected the opposition's impeachment notice against Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, saying that the notice was based on "suspicions and conjectures". Mr Naidu passed this judgement based on consultation with a former Supreme Court judge and the Attorney General of India.
More resources to know more about the impeachment notice against CJI Dipak Misra:
a) Justice AP Shah Speaks About The SC Controversy
b) Former Law Minister Talks About Press Conference By SC Judges
- Karang Island Becomes First Cashless Island Of India:
The island in Manipur has become the first cashless island in India. Akodara, a village in Gujarat, was India's first digital village in 2015.
- French National Assembly Approves Controversial Immigration Bill:
The Bill shortens asylum application deadlines and introduces 1-year prison sentence for illegal entry into France. The immigration bill has been criticized by opposition and NGOs dealing with refugees for viewing immigrants as criminals, with immigrant kids also being detained for a 90-day period.
In related news - 63% of the French population believes that there are "too many immigrants" in the country.
- AFSPA Removed From Meghalaya:
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act has been removed from Meghalaya after 27 years. In October 2017, the area under AFSPA was reduced from 20kms to 10kms in Meghalaya.
For further reading on AFSPA, click here.
- Dalmia Bharat Limited Adopts Red Fort, Delhi:
The Dalmia Bharat Group, under the 'Adopt a Heritage' program, has adopted the 17th-century monument built by Shah Jahan and has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Tourism. The move has been made for the maintenance and upkeep of the monument. The "Adopt a Heritage" initiative was launched by President Ramnath Kovind in September last year on World Tourism Day. Under the scheme, there are bidders for
The move has garnered criticism from the opposition as well as historians, who are blaming the Government for not being able to maintain the national monument. Read more about it here.
Read the counter-opinion here.In related news - The Dalmia group has also adopted the Gandikota Fort in Andhra Pradesh.
- India To Host Asian Weightlifting Championships:
India will host the Asian Weightlifting Championship in 2019. The last AWC was held in Turkmenistan.
- India Ranks 138th in Global Press Freedom Index:
According to Reporter’s Without Border’s (Reporters Sans Frontières, RSF) World Press Freedom Index 2018, India has slipped down to 138 from 136 over the past year. Norway is at the top of the list, and Kim Jong-un's North Korea is at the bottom of the list.
Click here to view the list.
Read more about Indian journalism and the right to free speech here.
Here is a detailed review of the RSF Report in the Indian Express.
In related news - Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid won the 2018 Press Freedom Prize by UNESCO. He was given the award on May 2nd which marks the World Press Freedom Day.
- Ride-Sharing App Ola To Set Up Safety Council:
Ola has set up a Safety Council which will work with government and help to find solutions to road safety challenges.
- NITI Aayog And ITC Collaborate:
The collaboration will work in the direction of strengthening farmer systems. The partnership will for 4 years until April 2022. The primary objective of the collaboration is to increase farm income by reducing costs and increasing productivity.
- Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Introduces Indigenous Bulletproof Vest:
BARC has offered the first ever indigenous vest called Bhabha Kavach, which is lighter (6.6 Kgs as compared to 17 kgs currently in use) and cheaper (Rs. 70,000 as compared to Rs. 1.5 Lakhs) than imported bulletproof vests.
- Indu Malhotra Sworn In As Supreme Court Judge:
Senior Lawyer Malhotra was sworn in on the 27th of April, 2018 as an SC Judge. Justice Malhotra is the 5th woman judge of the Supreme Court, the first woman judge being Justice Fatima Bibi.
- Supreme Court Instructs High Courts To Monitor POCSO Act Trials:
The Supreme Court was shocked by the high rate of pendency of child sexual assault cases and has directed High Courts to set up panels of its judges to regulate and monitor POCSO trials.
What is POCSO?
a) The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) 2012 was formed to protect children from sexual abuse and harassment. The act defines anyone under the age of 18 as a child.
b) The act extends across the entire country, except Jammu and Kashmir.
c) According to the act, a Special Court must complete the trial within one year from the date it takes cognizance of the crime.
d) Under the POCSO Act, a death penalty ordinance has been passed by President Kovind for the rape of children below the age of 12 years (a move which has brought a lot of criticism, with some suggesting that this knee-jerk reaction will actually endanger the lives of future victims as perpetrators may resort to murder to remove evidence of the rape).
- Kim Jong-un meets Moon Jae-in - Historic Event:
Kim Jong-un, Supreme Leader of North Korea, met Moon Jae-in, the President of South Korea. This comes after Kim Jong-Un's sister met with the South Korean President during the Seoul Winter Olympics.
In related news - North Korea will rejoin South Korea's time zone. In 2015, NK changed its time zone to 30 minutes behind that of South Korea.To know more about the details of this historic event, click here and/or here. - Aditya Ghosh Of Indigo Resigns Unexpectedly:
President and Director of Indigo resigned, and Director Rahul Bhatia has taken over as the interim CEO. IndiGo, whose parent company in InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., is owned by Mr Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal.
- Wuhan Summit - India & China To Launch Joint Economic Project In Afghanistan:
PM Modi met President Xi Jinping in Wuhan, China to launch a bilateral project to improve Afghanistan's economy. This will be the first ever Indo-China initiative in a third country.
- Saudi Arabia's Aramco Appoints First Female Board Member:
The world's top oil company has appointed Lynn Laverty Elsenhans as a board member. She was the former Chairwoman, President and CEO of US oil refiner Sunoco. She was also named as one of the world's most powerful women by Forbes in 2008.
- Pawan Chamling Becomes Longest-Serving Chief Minister:
The founding president of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) became chief minister in December 1994. He has served as the CM of Sikkim for 25 continuous years. He broke the record of former West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu.
- Former J&K Speaker Is New Deputy CM Of The State:
He took oath as a minister in the Mehbooba Mufti government. He is an MLA from Gandhinagar constituency of J&K.
Controversy: He recently downplayed the Kathua rape case, referring to it as a "small incident". Read more about it here.
Which news headline did you find the most interesting?
Let me know in the comments below!
Click here for all the Weekly News Burgers till now.
Comments