News in Short

• MS Dhoni, who has led the Chennai Super Kings since 2008, has stepped down as captain ahead of the IPL 2022 season opener against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
• Ravindra Jadeja will succeed him in the role, becoming the third player to lead CSK after Dhoni and Suresh Raina.
• Dhoni is the second most successful skipper in IPL history, having won four IPL titles in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021, respectively. Dhoni also holds the second-best win percentage (59.6) in the league

• Aiming to make comprehensive changes in criminal laws, the government has initiated the process of amendment to laws such as Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act in consultation with all stakeholders.
• The department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs in its 146th report had recommended that there is a need for a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system of the country.
• Earlier the Parliamentary Standing Committee in its 111th and 128th reports had also stressed upon the need to reform and rationalise the criminal law of the country by introducing a comprehensive legislation in Parliament.

• India, along with 12 other UN Security Council members, abstained on a resolution by Russia on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
• The draft resolution by Russia was cosponsored by Syria, North Korea and Belarus. It failed to get adopted in the Council.
• Russia and China voted in favour of the resolution while there were no countries voting against. India and the remaining Security Council members abstained.

• NASA astronaut Raja Chari, an Indian origin American test pilot, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer conducted a spacewalk.
• Chari and Maurer will also install a power and data cable on the station’s Bartolomeo science platform, replace an external camera, and conduct other upgrades to station hardware.
• A spacewalk is described as a period of physical activity engaged in by an astronaut in space outside a spacecraft.

• President Joe Biden headed to Europe as he tries to keep NATO allies and other European partners united against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.
• He plans to attend an extraordinary summit of all 30 NATO leaders, where he will discuss deterrence against Russia.
• Biden will also participate in a pre-scheduled meeting of the European Council and meet with leaders of the Group of Seven, or G-7, major industrial nations.