1. Elisabeth Bourne appointed new Prime Minister of France
Tags: Person in news International News
French President Emmanuel Macron has named Elisabeth Born as the country's new prime minister.
She is the second woman to become prime minister in France. Prior to this, Edith Cresson took the responsibility of the post of Prime Minister in 1991-1992.
French Prime Minister Jean-Casteux resigned in a move expected after Emmanuel Macron was re-elected, with 61-year-old Elisabeth Born as the new prime minister.
Born was Labor Minister in Macron's previous government since 2020. Earlier she had also been the Transport Minister.
In France, Macron and Bourne are likely to appoint a full government in the coming days.
About France -
France is a country located in Western Europe
It is the largest country in the continent of Europe in terms of area.
Capital- Paris
President- Emmanuel Macron
currency - euro
2. Former Australia cricketer Andrew Symonds dies in road accident
Tags: Person in news Sports News
46-year-old former Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds has died in a car accident.
The Symonds car accident happened in Townsville, Queensland.
Symonds, who was the best all-rounder player in world cricket, played the first international match of his career against Pakistan in November 1998.
Symonds made his Test debut in March 2004 against Sri Lanka.
Andrew Symonds was a key part of Australia's 50-over World Cup victories in 2003 and 2007.
Symonds is also remembered for the infamous "Monkeygate" scandal.
Symonds cricket career
He has scored 5088 runs in 198 matches in ODIs and has also taken 133 wickets during this period.
Symonds played 26 matches in his Test career in which he scored 1462 runs and also took 24 wickets.
Symonds scored 11099 runs in 424 List A matches and also took 282 wickets.
3. Devasahayam Pillai becomes first Indian layman to be declared saint by Pope Francis
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Devasahayam Pillai, who embraced Christianity in the 18th century, on May 15 became the first Indian layman to be declared a saint by Pope Francis at the Vatican.
His name was recommended for this in 2004.
Pope Francis announces canonization of Devasayam Pillai as saint along with 9 others including four women.
About Devasahayam Pillai
Devasahyam was born as Nilakanta Pillai on April 23, 1712, in a Hindu family at Nattalam in Kanyakumari district, which was then part of the Kingdom of Travancore.
He was an official in the court of Travancore’s Maharaja Marthanda Varma.
After meeting a Dutch naval commander at the court, Devasahayam was baptised in 1745, and assumed the name ‘Lazarus’, meaning ‘God is my help’.
His conversion did not go well with the heads of his native religion.
False charges of treason and espionage were brought against him and he was divested of his post in the royal administration.
He was arrested in 1749.
On January 14, 1752, Devasahayam was shot dead in the Aralvaimozhi forest.
Since then, he is considered a martyr, and his mortal remains were interred inside what is now Saint Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in Kottar, Nagercoil.
4. Sheikh Mohammed named UAE President
Tags: Person in news International News
On May 14, the rulers of the United Arab Emirates unanimously appointed Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the nation's president.
The country's seven sheikhs, who are the rulers of the UAE, took the decision at a meeting held at the Al Mushrif Palace in Abu Dhabi.
The post fell vacant after the country's president and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, 73, died on 13 May.
The transition of power marks only the third time this U.S.-allied nation of seven sheikhdoms has selected a President since becoming an independent nation in 1971.
The UAE has had a presidential system since it emerged as an independent nation in 1971.
Important facts about UAE
There are no rivers in the UAE
The UAE was the first country in the world to appoint a minister for artificial intelligence
The Arabian Oryx is the national animal of the UAE
Six of the world’s tallest hotels are in the UAE
It is located on the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula.
The country's form of government is an absolute monarchy.
Each emirate of the UAE is ruled by a separate royal family.
The falcon is the UAE's national symbol
Capital city - Abu Dhabi
7 Emirates of the UAE - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain.
Religion - Muslims 76%, Christians 19%
Language - Arabic
Currency - Dirhams
National Day - 2 December
5. Manik Saha takes oath as 11th chief minister of Tripura
Tags: Person in news State News
Tripura BJP chief and Rajya Sabha MP Manik Saha took oath as the 11th Chief Minister of the state at the Raj Bhavan in Agartala on May 15, a day after Biplab Kumar Deb resigned from the post.
The 69-year-old Saha (A professor of dental surgery) was named as the leader of the BJP legislature party hours after the resignation of Deb.
Saha left the Congress and joined the BJP in 2016.
During his early days in the party, he was in charge of urban areas in the Booth Management Committee in the 2018 assembly elections.
After BJP's thumping victory in the assembly elections, he was given the responsibility of in-charge of the booth management committee for the 2019 parliamentary elections.
Deb was sworn in as the first CM of Tripura in 2018, ending the 25-year rule of the Communist Party of India in the state.
About Tripura
Capital - Agartala
Governor - Satyadeo Narain Arya
State Bird - Green Imperial Pigeon (Ducula aenea)
State Tree Agar (Aquilaria malaccensis)
State Flower - Nageswar (Mesua Ferrea)
State Flower - Nageswar (Mesua Ferrea)
Borders - Bangladesh, Mizoram and Assam.
connected with the rest of India - by NH-44 that runs through Assam, Meghalaya, North Bengal, Kolkata and other parts of India.
No. of Districts - 08
6. UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed passes away
Tags: Person in news International News
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (73 years), the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, passed away on May 13, 2022.
Expressing his deepest condolences on the passing away of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Indian Prime Minister said that India-UAE relations have prospered under his guidance.
The Government of India has declared a day of national mourning on his death. During this time no public festival will be celebrated in any government offices.
The UAE government has declared 40 days of national mourning in the country on the death of Sheikh Khalifa. During this, the national flag will remain at half-mast. All government offices and private institutions including ministries will also remain closed for three days.
The world's tallest building 'Dubai's Burj Khalifa' was also named after the late President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum to be Acting President :
According to the UAE's constitution, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the ruling Vice President and Premier of Dubai, will take over as acting president until the country's Federal Council meets within 30 days to elect a new president.
Born in 1948, Sheikh Khalifa became the President of the UAE in 2004 after the death of his father. He was the country's second president and the 16th leader of Abu Dhabi.
About UAE -
Capital- Abu Dhabi
Prime Minister- Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Currency- UAE Dirham
7. Campbell Wilson named as MD and CEO of Air India
Tags: Person in news National News
Tata Sons has announced the appointment of Campbell Wilson as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Air India.
Wilson's appointment comes after Turkey's Ilkar IC decided not to take the role of Chief Executive of Air India.
Wilson is currently the CEO of Scoot, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.
Wilson has 26 years of experience in both full service airlines and low cost airlines.
Other appointments -
Chief Commercial Officer of Air India - Nipun Aggarwal
Chief Human Resource Officer of Air India - Suresh Dutt Tripathi
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION -
Establishment of Air India - 1932
Air India Headquarters- New Delhi
Founder of Air India- Ratan Tata
President of Air India- N Chandrasekaran
8. Bajaj Finserv's Sanjiv Bajaj takes over as CII President
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Sanjiv Bajaj, Chairman and Managing Director, Bajaj Finserv Limited has been appointed as the President of the Confederation of Indian Industry, CII for the year 2022-23.
He takes over from T V Narendran, CEO and managing director of Tata Steel Limited.
Hero MotoCorp Ltd Chairman and CEO Pawan Munjal is the CII President-Designate for 2022-23.
While R Dinesh, Executive Vice President, TVS Supply Chain Solutions, has taken over as the Vice President of CII.
Sanjeev has been associated with CII at State, Regional and National level for many years.
Sanjeev is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, US.
He had headed the CII National Committees on Insurance and Pensions and the CII Task Force on Fintech.
About Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
CII is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation.
The objective of CII is to achieve a conducive environment for the development of industry and civil society in India.
It was founded in 1895.
It has over 8,000 members from both the public and private sectors.
9. Gotabaya appoints Ranil as Sri Lanka Prime Minister
Tags: Person in news International News
Ranil Wickremesinghe, a veteran opposition MP, was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the sixth time in an effort to end the current political crisis in the country.
Gotabaya's elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as prime minister on May 9.
Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) was wiped out in the 2020 general elections, with Rajapaksa winning a two-thirds majority.
Wickremesinghe is currently the only MP from his party.
Reason of crisis in Sri Lanka
Mahendra Rajapaksa announced huge tax cuts in his manifesto in the 2019 election, leading to a huge drop in revenue.
Sri Lanka is primarily a tourism-based economy. The Easter bombings in 2019 resulted in a sharp drop in tourist arrivals, which was further exacerbated by the COVID crisis.
Huge infrastructural debt.
Misguided policies of the authoritative regime
Due to Covid, there was a further decline in the export of tea, rubber and the tourism sector came to a standstill.
Remittances also dropped significantly
10. Rajiv Kumar to be new Chief Election Commissioner of India
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Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar would take charge as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on May 15 after the incumbent Sushil Chandra retired on May 14.
Kumar has been a member of Election Commission of India since September 1, 2020.
Prior to that, he served as the chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board.
1984-batch IAS officer of the Bihar/Jharkhand cadre, Kumar retired from the civil service in February 2020 from the post of Union Finance Secretary.
Kumar has also been the Director, Central Board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), SBI, NABARD.
Kumar has been credited with being instrumental in conceptualising and implementing mergers and acquisitions in the financial sector.
With his effort, the National Pension System (NPS) was streamlined, benefiting about 18 lakh central government employees.
In pursuance of clause (2) of Article 324 of the Constitution, the President shall appoint Rajiv Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner.
