Naftali Bennett Takes Charge as Israel’s new Prime Minister
Naftali Bennett, the former Defence Minister of Israel, and leader of the Yamina party took oath as the Prime Minister of the country. The 49-year-old former tech entrepreneur replaces Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been forced out of office after 12 years (2009 to 2021). (Netanyahu is the longest-serving PM of Israel).
Bennett will lead a new coalition government, formed with Yair Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party. The new Coalition government will run on a rotation basis, which means that Bennett would serve as Israel’s prime minister until September 2023, following which Lapid would take charge of the office, for the next two years, until 2025.
Former Indian volleyball captain Nirmal Milkha Singh passes away
The former Indian women volleyball team captain Nirmal Milkha Kaur, who is the wife of sprint legend Milkha Singh (Flying Sikh), has passed away due to COVID-19 complications. Nirmal Milkha Singh was also a former Director of Sports for Women in the Punjab Government.
National award winning Kannada film actor Sanchari Vijay passes away
Veteran Kannada film actor Sanchari Vijay, who won the National award in 2015, has passed away. He made his debut in films in 2011 with the Kannada film Rangappa Hogbitna. His 2015 film Naanu Avanalla…Avalu, fetched him the Best Actor Award at the 62nd National Film Awards, in which he played the role of a transgender.
Vinoo Mankad and 9 others inducted into ICC Hall of Fame
The ICC has inducted 10 icons of the game, including India’s Vinoo Mankad, into its illustrious Hall of Fame with two players each from five eras, dating back to cricket’s early days, making it to the list. The announcement has been coincided with the inaugural World Test Championship final, to be played between India and New Zealand from June 18 in Southampton.
The 10 legends of the game to be inducted have all made a significant contribution to the history of Test cricket, and join an illustrious list of ICC Hall of Famers, taking the total number to 103 as a result of this intake. The inductees are:
- Aubrey Faulkner of South Africa and Monty Noble of Australia for the early era (pre-1918),
- Sir Learie Constantine of West Indies and Stan McCabe of Australia for the inter-war Era (1918-1945),
- Ted Dexter of England and Vinoo Mankad of India for the post-war Era (1946-1970).
- Desmond Haynes of the West Indies and Bob Willis of England were inducted from the ODI era (1971-1995)
- Andy Flower of Zimbabwe and Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka were from the modern era (1996-2016).
D. Gukesh wins Gelfand Challenge chess title
D. Gukesh sensationally won the $15,000 Gelfand Challenge chess title and with it, a ‘wild card’ for the elite Meltwaters Champions Chess Tour. He won all four rounds, including the key battle against Praggnanandhaa, and emerged on top after a series of favourable results from the games involving other title-contenders.
India’s retail inflation touches 6.3% in May
India’s retail inflation shot up to a six-month high of 6.3 per cent in May, after easing to a three-month low of 4.23 per cent in April. Inflation, based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), has breached the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) target range for the first time after five months. The RBI is mandated to maintain the crucial number at 4 per cent in the medium term, with a 2 percentage point margin on either side as part of its inflation target.
National Statistical Office data for retail inflation showed food inflation shot up to 5% in May from 2% in April as prices of protein items such as meat, fish, eggs, oils and fats accelerated. The fuel bill also went up 11.6% as the government increased retail prices of petrol and diesel after state election results on 2 May. Services inflation jumped as costs of health, transport and personal care rose during the second wave of the pandemic.
Cricketer Suresh Raina releases his autobiography ‘Believe’
Former Indian batsman, Suresh Raina has released his autobiography ‘Believe – What Life and Cricket Taught Me’. The book is co-authored by Bharat Sundaresan, Suresh Raina narrated the journey he has had for India and the golden word (Believe) from Sachin Tendulkar that he etched on his arm as a tattoo.
The essence of the book:
- The cricketer shared a glimpse of his cricket career which included success, failure, injuries, setbacks, and how he came out on top of it.
- He revealed how the BCCI, senior players, and scholarship from Air India helped him grow as a cricketer during student life.
- He also revealed that it was great to be named as the best fielder in India by former South Africa great Jonty Rhodes and learned from the experience of playing with the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid.
- In the book, he narrated the importance of hope, love, work, and camaraderie that made him one of the most revered white-ball batsmen in the world.
Justice AK Sikri to chair IAMAI’s Grievance Redressal Board
The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has roped in former Supreme Court Justice (Retd.) Arjan Kumar Sikri to chair the Grievance Redressal Board (GRB), formed as a part of the Digital Publisher Content Grievances Council (DPCGC). The GRB will address content grievances pertaining to any of the DPCGC member’s video streaming services.
With the addition of Apple, BookMyShow Stream, Eros Now, and Reeldrama, the DPCGC currently has 14 publishers of online curated content as members. Others include which include Amazon Prime Video, Alt Balaji, Firework TV, Hoichoi, Hungama, Lionsgate Play, MX Player, Netflix, Shemaroo, and Ullu.
About the Grievance Redressal Board:
- The Grievance Redressal Board will aim to provide independent adjudication on content grievances escalated to it.
- The members of the GRB include prominent personalities from the media and entertainment industry, online curated content providers, experts from various fields — including child rights, women rights, and media laws.
- The Grievance Redressal Board includes National award-winning actress Suhasini Maniratnam; Madhu Bhojwani, Indian film Producer and Partner at Emmay Entertainment and Motion Pictures; Gopal Jain, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; and Dr Ranjana Kumari, eminent Civil Society Representative who currently serves as the Director of the Centre for Social Research and as the Chairperson of Women Power Connect.
- The two members from the Online Curated Content Providers are Amit Grover, Senior Corporate Counsel, Amazon India, and Priyanka Chaudhari, Director-legal, Netflix India.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Chairman of the Internet and Mobile Association of India: Amit Agarwal;
- Internet and Mobile Association of India Headquarters: Mumbai;
- Internet and Mobile Association of India Founded: 2004.
Assam to institute own versions of Bharat Ratna and Padma awards
The Assam government will present its own versions of the Bharat Ratna and the Padma awards from next year. The cabinet also instituted other civilian honours such as the Asom Bibhushan Award to be presented to three persons, the Assam Bhushan to five, and the Asom Shree to 10 people every year. These 4 awards will carry cash prizes of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh, Rs 2 lakh & Rs 1 lakh respectively.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Assam Governor: Jagdish Mukhi;
- Assam Chief Minister: Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Bharti Airtel’s Ajai Puri re-elected as COAI chairman for 2021-22
Chief Operating Officer of Bharti Airtel, Ajai Puri has been re-elected as Chairman of the industry association for 2021-22. Announcing the leadership for 2021-22, Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) said that Pramod Kumar Mittal, President of Reliance Jio Infocomm, will continue as Vice Chairman of the association.
The association “is optimistic about the future of the industry and the opportunities ahead, as 5G and allied technologies get closer to commercial deployment”. COAI director general, SP Kochhar said the digital communications industry, with the support of the government, emerged as the economic and social backbone of the nation, keeping citizens connected and enabling the economy to function during the crisis period of COVID-19 and cyclones.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- COAI Headquarters location: New Delhi;
- COAI Founded: 1995.
India slips 12 spots to 55th position in Global Home Price Index
India has moved down 12 spots in the global home price index to 55th rank in Q1 2021 against 43rd rank in Q1 2020, with a decline of 1.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in home prices, Knight Frank, in its latest research report “Global House Price Index” – Q1 2021.
Global Home Price Index is prepared by the London-based Knight Frank, which monitors housing prices in 56 countries. Turkey continues to lead the annual rankings with prices up by 32 per cent YoY, followed by New Zealand.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Knight Frank Established: 1896;
- Knight Frank Headquarters: London, United Kingdom.
Kathryn Bryce, Mushfiqur Rahim named ICC Players of the month for May
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced Scotland’s Kathryn Bryce and Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim as the winners of the ICC Player of the Month Awards for May. ICC Player of the Month Awards aims to recognise and celebrate the best performances from both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket throughout the year.
About the Kathryn Bryce:
All-rounder Kathryn Bryce from Scotland was deservingly voted the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for May 2021 as she is the first player from Scotland, male, or female, to make it to the top 10 of the batting or bowling lists in the ICC Player Rankings released recently. Kathryn played four T20Is against Ireland where she scored 96 runs and took 5 wickets with an economy rate of 4.76 in the month of May.
About the Mushfiqur Rahim:
From the Bangladesh camp, Mushfiqur Rahim was named the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for May 2021. He played one Test and three ODIs against Sri Lanka in the month of May where he helped Bangladesh win their first ODI series against Sri Lanka by scoring 125 in the second ODI.
Pritzker Prize Laureate Gottfried Bohm Passes Away
Gottfried Bohm, the first German architect to be awarded the Pritzker Prize, has passed away at 101. Most of his most notable projects were built in Germany-such as Neviges Pilgrimage Church (1968), Bensberger City Hall (1969), and the Museum of the Diocese (1975).
Bohm, who was the eighth winner of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, was widely known for his concrete churches that were largely built in Germany.
47th G7 summit held in UK’s Cornwall
The 47th G7 Leaders’ Summit 2021 (Outreach Session of the G7 meeting) took place in a Hybrid format from June 11-13, 2021 at Cornwall, United Kingdom (UK). It was hosted by the United Kingdom (UK) as it holds the Presidency of G7 for 2021. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually participated in the meeting and called G7 summit members for the ‘One Earth One Health’ approach to effectively deal with the coronavirus pandemic globally, and sought the support of the G7 grouping to lift patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines.
Key highlights of the summit:
- The theme for the Summit – ‘Building Back Better’.
- The UK invited Australia, India, South Korea, and South Africa (jointly called ‘Democracy 11’) as Guest Countries to the 2021 summit.
- US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi attended the Summit in person.
- The 47th G7 Leaders’ Summit has been called the 1st ever net-zero G7 as all have committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 (or at the latest with ambitious reductions targets in the 2020 decade).
- PM Narendra Modi participated in the 1st Outreach Session of the G7 Summit, he was the lead speaker for the session titled ‘Building Back Stronger – Health’, which focused on global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and on strengthening resilience against future pandemics.
