QBullet: PM Hasina Seeks Help on Rohingya; Petrol Prices Shoot Up
Top news stories of the day.
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1. Uttarakhand Policeman Saves Muslim Youth from Mob
A video purportedly showing a Sikh policeman saving a Muslim youth from a mob after the latter was allegedly found in a compromising position with a Hindu girl at a temple near Ramnagar in Nainital district had gone viral.
ADG (law and order) Ashok Kumar said the incident occurred on Tuesday, 21 May, when a Muslim youth went to meet his girlfriend, a Hindu, at Garjia Devi temple about 15 km from Ramnagar.
Locals came to know about it and reached the temple to catch them, “, he said.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Ramesh Kumar Elected Karnataka Assembly Speaker
Congress’ K R Ramesh Kumar was on 25 May unanimously elected the Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly, after BJP candidate S Suresh Kumar pulled out of the race, in a major victory for the JD(S)-Congress coalition before Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy faced the floor test.
Shortly before the start of the proceedings, Suresh Kumar said he was withdrawing his nomination following a direction from the BJP leadership.
“On the directions of our party, I had filed the nomination for the post of Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Now, after discussion in the party, it is felt that the Speaker has to be elected unanimously following the parliamentary traditions. I’m withdrawing my nomination,” Suresh Kumar tweeted.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Nipah Mystery Deepens as Lab Report Rules out Bats as Prime Cause of Infection
The mystery over the source of the deadly Nipah (NiV) virus infection that has claimed 12 lives in north Kerala deepened after the blood and serum samples of 21 bats tested at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal returned negative results for the virus.
Kerala’s first NIV outbreak has killed 12 people and infected 20.
Health officials will now examine the travel history of Mohamed Sabith, 26, who was the first to die in the Moosa family that lost four members to the virus.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Haryana, Kerala BJP Leaders Appointed Governors of Odisha, Mizoram
Haryana BJP leader Professor Ganeshi Lal has been appointed the Governor of Odisha while party's Kerala unit chief Kummanam Rajasekharan is set to take over as the Governor of Mizoram, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique released on Friday, 25 May.
Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik was additionally discharging the duties of Odisha Governor since March, 2018. The tenure of Lt Gen (Retd.) Nirbhay Sharma, the incumbent Mizoram Governor, ends on 28 May.
Prof Lal, a former Haryana MLA was once the state BJP chief. He is currently part of BJP's Disciplinary Committee, according to the party's website.
(Source: The Hindu)
5. Petrol Price Rises for 11th Straight Day, Crosses Rs 85 a Litre in Mumbai, Rs 80 in Kolkata
Fuel prices across metros increased by another 30 paise on Thursday, 24 May, in their 11th day of rise since 14 May, as dealers continued to pass on the burden of increasing crude oil prices to customers in a staggering manner.
Petrol prices in Mumbai breached Rs 85 on Thursday, with the fuel selling at Rs 85.29 a litre, 30 paise more than Wednesday’s price of Rs 84.99 a litre. In Delhi, prices reached Rs 77.47 per litre, Rs 80.42 in Chennai, and Rs 80.12 in Kolkata, according to Indian Oil Corp.
In the past one week, petrol prices have gone up over Rs 2 per litre across metros. The government had put a hold on fuel prices for a 20-day window ahead of Karnataka election results.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Delhi Continues to Reel Under Heat Wave, Temperature Could Rise to 47 Degrees Celsius
Delhi sweltered under heatwave-like conditions for the fourth consecutive day with the temperature touching 43.6 degrees Celsius in the city and 45.4 degrees Celsius at the outskirts in Palam on Friday, 25 May.
The local meteorological centre said possible rain and thunderstorm on Wednesday could bring some relief. But before that, the maximum temperature could shoot up to 45 degrees Celsius over the weekend, resulting in a heatwave. At Palam, the mercury could touch 47 degrees on Sunday. A heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature shoots up beyond 40°C and it is at least four degrees above normal. If the mercury crosses the 45°mark, the weather office automatically deems it a heatwave.
The highest temperature Delhi recorded this summer was on 22 May, when the readings at Safdarjung and Palam shot up to 44° and 46° Celsius, respectively.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. In India, Hasina Seeks Help on Rohingya
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina on Friday, 25 May, chose the backdrop of the Visva Bharati campus to seek India’s help in repatriating Rohingya refugees to Myanmar.
Over 11 lakh Rohingyas had taken refuge in Bangladesh, Hasina said at the inauguration of Bangladesh Bhavana in the presence of PM Narendra Modi and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. “We could not have turned them away. We are a nation of 16 crore people. Why could we not feed a few lakh more mouths? If need be, we will share our food. But we also want them to be expeditiously repatriated to Myanmar. We (Bangladesh and India) have to urge Myanmar to take its people back,” Hasina said.
(Source: Times of India)
8. Summit with Kim Jong-Un May Still Happen, Says Donald Trump, Practising Diplomacy on the Fly
The US-North Korea nuclear summit is back in the realms of possibility. The two sides continue to play hot and cold on the proposed meeting between their leaders, but President Trump himself indicated on Friday, 25 May, that they had reengaged in talks after they had broken down over what Pyongyang saw as threatening tone and posture from Washington ahead of the proposed 12 June date in Singapore.
"We're going to see what happens. We're talking to them now," Trump said when asked by reporters outside the White House if the meeting with Kim is still on, a day after he had abruptly scrapped the summit, following a vituperative North Korean statement against vice-president Mike Pence, who was called a ''political dummy.''
(Source: Times of India)
9. Mayawati Writes to Yogi: Bungalow 13A Was Made Memorial in 2011
BSP chief and former chief minister Mayawati on Friday, 25 May, claimed that the UP government had erroneously asked her to vacate Bungalow 13A on Mall Avenue, a memorial as per a 2011 government order.
In a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Mayawati claimed that the property was marked as “Manyavar Shri Kansihram Yaadgaar Vishram Sthal” in 2011 by the UP Estate Department.
The same department had recently ordered her and other former chief ministers to vacate their government bungalows in line with a 7 May Supreme Court order that quashed a state law allowing the same.
(Source: Indian Express)