News Flash (4th June 2020): Top 12 Stories Of The Day

1. All four Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death.

With the protest against the death of George Floyd, the three Minneapolis police officers Thomas Lane, J.Kueng and Thao along with Derek Chauvin, the officer who pressed his knee on African-American man are held to be charged against the murder. Lane, Kueng and Thao are charged with aiding and abetting the murder. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder in addition to the third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges.

2. Gandhi statue desecrated in Washington D.C

People protesting against the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd desecrated the statue of Mahatma Gandhi located outside the Indian embassy in Washington D.C.   

Ken Juster, the US Ambassador to India through his tweet expressed apologies regarding the incident. “so sorry to see the desecration of the Gandhi statue in Wash, DC. Please accept our sincere apologies. Appalled as well by the horrific death of George Floyd & the awful violence & vandalism. We stand against prejudice & discrimination of any type. We will recover and be better.

3. Kerala CM assures strict action against the culprit behind pregnant elephant’s death.

“Stringent action will be taken against the culprits who are responsible for the killing of a pregnant elephant” said K. Raju, forest minister, Kerala.

Malappuram, Kerala a pregnant elephant died after it was fed a cracker-stuffed pineapple to which Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday assured strict actions against the perpetrators. The CM and the forest minister also assured the soon arrest of the persons responsible for the death of the pregnant elephant.

4. 8 Indian institutes now in top 100 in THE Asia University Rankings

Eight institutes from India including six Indian Institute of Technology made space in the top 100 in Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings, 2020.  The 8 institutes included, The Indian Institute of Science, IIT- Ropar, IIT-Indore, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay and IIT-Roorkee ranked, 36^th, 47^th, 55^th, 59^th, 67^th, 69^th and 83^rd respectively.

5. $16.2 bn takeover deal of Tiffany & Co reconsidered by LVMH

According to the reports, LVMH has reconsidered a $16.2-billion takeover deal of tiffany & Co due to disruptions in the US market. As said by the members in the board meeting of LVMH, the American jeweller may not be able to cover all its debt covenants at the end of the transaction. The November 2019 announced deal was expected to have it concluded by mid-2020.

6. Online end-sem exams for outgoing students to be conducted: IIT-Bhubaneshwar

For no delay in the graduation, Indian Institute of Technology has announced to conduct the online end-semester examinations for outgoing students. The institution has decided to have two alternative scheduled examinations, one from June 24 and another to be conducted by the end of July or first week of August. With any betterment in the pandemic situation, students will be given an option to appear for the second examination at the campus.

7. Mukesh Ambani made Anil ‘beg’ for avoiding jail term in the past year.

Bloomberg reported, Mukesh Ambani, The richest man of Asia made yunger brother Anil beg for monetary help to clear the dues worth 460 cores to Ericsson in the year 2019 to avoid a jail term. In the exchange of money, Anil Ambani surrendered two 99-year leases on office buildings in Mumbai.

8. Siberia declares emergency after 20k tons of fuel leaks from facility

Siberia, on Friday, estimated leak of twenty thousand tons of diesel from a power plant facility into Ambarnaya river. The incident occurred in the outskirts of the city of Norilsk. To this, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency in a region of Siberia. Officials are also ordered by the president to minimise the consequences of the spill which has fouled waterways.

9. Approval granted for drone experiments granted to zomato, swiggy, dunzo and others.

Approval for drone experiments to online food ordering and delivering apps has been granted by The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).  Drone maker Throttle Aerospace Systems, hyperlocal logistics firm Dunzo along with apps such as Swiggy, Zomato are expected to conduct the experiment of food delivery via drones by the first week of July.

10. Mitron app to be uninstalled, can put personal information at risk: Maharashtra Cyber Cell

Maharashtra cyber cell asks people to uninstall Mitron app. The cyber cell quotes that the app asks the users to login through their google account but never uses it.  The cell also claims no usage of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) that makes it easier for the hackers to control the users’ account.

“As a precautionary measure, users are advised to uninstall the app as it can put your personal information and data to risk.” posted the advisory on Twitter.

11. 7 agreements signed by India and Australia during virtual bilateral summit.

June 4, 2020, the first-ever ‘India –Australia virtual Summit’ was held by PM Modi with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.  During a virtual bilateral summit on Thursday, India and Australia signed 7 agreements. The signed agreements focus on areas like defence and rare earth minerals. “India is committed to expanding its relation to Australia at a faster pace.” Stated PM Modi during the summit.

12. US airlines to be allowed by China after Trump’s ban.

The restrictions on international passenger flights, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) will be given ease by China.  From June 8, the allowance will be given to operating one flight per week in Chinese cities.  This comes after Chinese flights were banned by Trump administration to fly into the US from June 16.