What you missed: A tragedy, an Indian K-pop star on the rise, and more!6 min read
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Missed Out is a lowdown on all the wacky, wonderful and sometimes, plain weird, happenings in the world around us. Little videos, facts and tidbits that make for an ideal, fun and educational break.
This week on Missed Out, we have some sad news, some happy news and some news that we just think is interesting enough for you to read about! Keep scrolling for more….
Guns enter a school in America…again!
In a horrific and tragic incident in Texas last week, a teenage gunman killed at least 19 young children and two adults at an elementary school. The attack in Uvalde — a small community about an hour from the Mexican border — was the deadliest US school shooting in years, and the latest in a spree of bloody gun violence across America.
This got people enraged about the state of gun laws in America, and prompted a furious President Joe Biden to vow to end the nation’s cycle of mass shootings.
“It’s time to turn this pain into action for every parent, for every citizen of this country,” Biden said.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, addressing a news conference, named the suspect as Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old local resident and a US citizen. Texas Department of Public Safety officials told CNN that the gunman had shot his grandmother before heading to Robb Elementary School around noon where he abandoned his vehicle and entered with a handgun and a rifle, wearing body armour or protective gear. The gunman was killed by police officers.
It was the deadliest such incident since the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut, in which 20 children and six staff were killed.
Read more about America’s history with gun violence in our story!
Owliver’s Obscure Observations
The United States suffered 19,350 firearm homicides in 2020, up nearly 35 percent compared to 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest data.
UK to offer work visas to graduates from world’s top universities
The United Kingdom has announced it will start offering work visas to graduates from the world’s top universities, aiming to attract the “best and brightest” workers.
Under the scheme, graduates with a bachelor’s or master’s degree from the top 50 universities abroad can apply for a two-year work visa, and those with doctorates can apply for a three-year visa.
They will be allowed to bring family members with them and be able to switch to longer-term employment visas, the government said.
Under the new scheme, applicants must have been awarded degrees no more than five years before the date of application.
Eligible universities must appear in the top 50 rankings of at least two of the following: the Times Higher Education world university rankings, the Academic Ranking of World Universities and the Quacquarelli Symonds world university rankings.
The most recent list of eligible universities from 2021, published online by the UK government, comprised more than two dozen US universities, as well as institutions in Canada, Japan, Germany, China, Singapore, France and Sweden.
The new regulation was quickly criticised on social media for excluding universities from countries in the Global South, with users condemning the policy as “elitist”, “racist” and “lazy”.
What do you think?
Meet Sriya Lenka, the first Indian to become a K-Pop star
An 18-year-old from Odisha has become the first-ever K-pop artist from India. Sriya Lenka will be joining the South Korean girl group Blackswan, along with Gabriela Dalcin from Brazil.
Blackswan’s label DR Music announced the addition of new members in an Instagram post. It said Sriya and Gabriela were selected following a global audition programme held over the past six months. The audition was announced after one of the members, Hyeme, left the girl group.
ASHA workers get recognised for their hard work!
Accredited Social Health Activists, or ASHA workers, were named among the recipients of the World Health Organization’s Global Health Leaders Awards recently.
ASHA workers are female community health volunteers engaged under the National Health Mission. They are tasked with a range of responsibilities, including childbirth care, monitoring children with malnutrition and creating awareness.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, they played a key role in the vaccination programme.
The World Health Organization said that it honoured the workers “for their crucial role in linking the community with the health system, to ensure those living in rural poverty can access primary health care services, as shown throughout the Covid-19 pandemic”.
The global health body said that ASHA workers work on maternal health care, immunisation, treatment for hypertension and tuberculosis and contribute to “core areas of health promotion for nutrition, sanitation, and healthy living”.
ASHA workers across India have held protests in recent years in connection with a range of demands, including a better pay, pensions and status as government employees.
That’s it for this week! Catch more ‘Missed Out’, and tell us what kind of content you’d like to see more of! Write to us at hello@owliverpost.com, or comment on this article.
