Daily Current Affairs: April: 05, 2018
Dear readers, This post contains important current affairs. It includes all Major National, International, Business and Sports related current affairs. A brief explanation of every current affair is provided to further enhance your general knowledge.
Blackbuck poaching case: Salman Khan gets a 5-year jail term
• A Jodhpur court has sentenced Bollywood superstar Salman Khan to five-year jail term in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case, while other actors including Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam Kothari have been acquitted.
• Salman will have to spend the night in Jodhpur Jail as his bail hearing in the Sessions Court has been posted for tomorrow.
• The witnesses of the shooting incident, the Bishnoi community helped form the case against Salman Khan. The community has been activists for hundreds of years.
• The community has decided to appeal against the other acquittals.
• Salman Khan was accused of killing two blackbucks in Bhagoda ki Dhani in Kankani village near Jodhpur on the intervening night of October 1-2, 1998, during the shooting of Hum Saath Saath Hain.
• He has been convicted under Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, which carries a maximum punishment of six years and minimum one-year jail term.
India, Azerbaijan sign two documents for visa waiver for diplomatic passports holders
• India and Azerbaijan have signed two documents for the visa waiver for diplomatic, official and service passports holders and cooperation between diplomatic training institutes.
• The agreements were signed during the ongoing visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to that country.
• Swaraj is there to be part of 18th NAM Ministerial Conference in Baku.
NDA MPs to give up salary for disrupted part of budget session
• Members of Parliament of BJP and NDA allies have decided not to take salary and allowances for 23 days of the second phase of the budget session of Parliament.
• This was announced by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar in New Delhi on April 4, 2018.
• Kumar told reporters that the decision has been taken in protest against the opposition’s negative politics of stalling the proceedings of both the Houses.
• He said that the parties stopped important bills from being passed, which led to a criminal wastage of the taxpayer’s money. The session is scheduled to end on April 6.
Julius Maada Bio takes oath as new President of Sierra Leone
• Julius Maada Bio took oath as the President of Sierra Leone in the capital Freetown on April 5, 2018. Bio is a former soldier who briefly ruled Sierra Leone in 1996.
• He defeated ruling party candidate Samura Kamara, an economist by training.
• President Ernest Bai Koroma has stepped down after serving two five-year terms.
• Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean. It’s known for the white-sand beaches lining the Freetown Peninsula.
Sally Pearson withdraws from Commonwealth Games
• Australian track star Sally Pearson pulled out of the Commonwealth Games on April 5, after failing to recover from an Achilles problem, dealing a heavy blow to the event.
• Sally expressed disappointment but added that she needed to give herself the best chance of competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
• Sally Pearson has previously won Gold in the 100 metres Hurdles at the 2010 and 2014 Games, but she missed out on a medal in Melbourne in 2006 and was forced to pull out of the Rio Olympics with a hamstring injury.
ICC Test Rankings: Virat Kohli retains second spot
• India skipper Virat Kohli remains static on his second position in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings released today.
• The test player rankings were topped again by Australia’s Steve Smith. India’s test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara also held on to his seventh position.
• India Test spinner Ravichandran Ashwin slipped one place in the bowlers ranking to take the fifth position while Ravindra Jadeja held on to his second spot in the all-rounders ranking.
• In the ICC Test Team Rankings, New Zealand overtook Australia to grab the third place.
Trump signs proclamation sending National Guard to US-Mexico border
• US President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation to send the National Guard to the country’s border with Mexico.
• The information was shared by US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at the White House press briefing.
• Nielsen stated that the signing would be done in conjunction with governors and that the administration hoped the deployment would begin immediately.
