News in Short

• The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) expelled the faction of the Kerala Congress (M) led by Jose K Mani. The faction led-by PJ Joseph remains within the UDF.
• For several months now, the two factions led by Joseph and Mani have been at each other’s throats over the post of the president of the Kottayam district panchayat.
• The troubles between the Jose and Joseph factions began shortly after the death of KM Mani, the state’s former finance minister and founding chairman of the Kerala Congress (M).

• China’s parliament has passed national security legislation for Hong Kong, setting the stage for the most radical changes to the former British colony.
• The legislation pushes Beijing further along a collision course with the United States, Britain and other Western governments, which have endorsed higher degree of autonomy for Hong Kong.
• Beijing is expected to set up a national security office in Hong Kong to “supervise, guide and support” the city government. Beijing could also exercise jurisdiction on certain cases.

• Pramod Mittal, brother of UK-based steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, has reportedly been declared bankrupt by the Insolvency and Companies Court in London.
• Mittal heads the supervisory board and co-owns metallurgical coke producer Global Ispat Koksna Industrija Lukavac (GIKIL) in northern Bosnia, one of the country’s biggest exporters.
• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a case of cheating and corruption against him in 2017 for allegedly causing a loss of ? 2,112 crore to the State Trading Corporation (STC).

• India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was named as the country’s ‘Most Valuable Player’ (MVP) of the 21st century by Wisden.
• Jadeja’s contribution to his team has been noteworthy with the ball, bat, and while fielding. Wisden used CricViz, a detailed analysis tool in cricket to analyse his performance.
• Jadeja’s MVP rating was an astounding 97.3, second only to Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan and thus making him the second most valuable Test player of the 21st century.
• Having made his debut in 2009, Jadeja has represented India in 49 Tests, 165 ODIs, 49 T20Is so far.

• Comedian Carl Reiner known for being creator of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and straight man to Mel Brooks’ “2000 Year Old Man,” has died. He was 98.
• In recent years, he was part of the roguish gang in the “Ocean’s Eleven” movies starring George Clooney and appeared in documentaries including “Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age” and “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.”
• Films he directed included “Oh, God!” starring George Burns and John Denver; “All of Me,” with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin; and the 1970 comedy “Where’s Poppa?”.