News in Short

• US President Joe Biden named Karine Jean-Pierre as the next White House press secretary, the first Black person to hold the high-profile post.
• Jean-Pierre, who will also be the first openly LGBTQ+ person in the role, will replace Jen Psaki, under whom she served as deputy, from May 13.
• Jean-Pierre worked on both of former president Barack Obama’s campaigns in 2008 and 2012 and then on Biden’s campaign in 2020.

• The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition that sought the installation of loudspeakers in mosques, saying it is “not a fundamental right”.
• The controversy over the use of loudspeakers at religious places sparked across several states, including Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
• Recently, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the sound from loudspeakers at religious places should not be heard outside the premises.

• The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Gujarat High Court judge Justice JamshedBurjorPardiwala for appointment as apex court judges.
• If appointed as apex court judge, Justice Pardiwala will be in line for appointment as Chief Justice of India and have a tenure of about two years and three months.
• He would be the first from a minority community to be elevated to the Supreme Court in five years. Justice S. Abdul Nazeer was elevated to the Supreme Court in February 2017.

• The Asian Games, which were to be held from September 10-25 in Hangzhou, have been postponed due to the pandemic.
• The decision comes at a time when China is experiencing its biggest Covid-19 outbreak. The country is battling a record number of daily cases in Shanghai.
• The decision is likely to have a bearing on the Paris Olympics qualification system, especially in sports such as hockey where Asian Games gold medalists were to be awarded a direct berth.

• The Union government has directed companies offering Virtual Private Network, or VPN services, to collect and store information of Indian users for up to five years.
• Virtual Private Networks allow users to mask their location and browse the internet without divulging their search history to the internet service providers.
• VPN providers in India now need to store names, addresses, contact numbers, period of subscription, email and IP address, and the client’s purpose of using their service.