Current Affairs - May 13, 2020 Current Affairs

Chandigarh-based Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory of DRDO develops contactless sanitizer dispenser.

The government released Rs.6,195.08 crore to 14 states as the second equated monthly installment of the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant on 11 May. The move by the GoI aims to provide additional resources during the COVID-19 crisis.

Indian Railways restore train services partially from May 12, 2020. As many as 15 pairs of special trains (thirty trains) were operated. These services were in addition to the Shramik specials for transporting stranded persons, which are under operation from May 1, 2020. Other regular passenger services, including all mail/express, passenger and suburban services shall remain cancelled until further advice.

Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' launched Central University of Odisha Helpline "Bharosa" and its Helpline Number 08046801010 through a virtual platform in New Delhi on 11 May. The aim is to relieve the distress of the student community during the troubled time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the helpline aims to provide Cognitive Emotional Rehabilitation Services to all University Students of Odisha.

Technology Centres, Bhubaneswar, Jamshedpur and Kolkata of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) are now manufacturing critical parts of Real-Time Quantitative Micro PCR System for AMTZ, Visakhapatnam. The machine can give the COVID-19 Test result in less than one hour. Generally, the normal test result takes a minimum of 24 hours.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on May 12, 2020 declared that the FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup will now be held during February 17, 2021 - March 7, 2021 in India. The tournament was earlier scheduled to be held on November 2, 2020. However, the AIFF had to cancel it due to COVID-19 outbreak.

Deepa Malik, India's lone woman Paralympics silver medallist, announced that she will be hanging her boots from active sports in order to serve as the president of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) in accordance with the National Sports Code.

China won the inaugural $180,000 FIDE Chess.com Online Nations Cup following a 2-2 draw against USA. India concluded its campaign by playing to its seeding and finished fifth, ahead of sixth seed Rest of the World (RoW). With Viswanathan Anand taking a break on the final day of the league stage, India lost 1.5-2.5 to third seed Russia.

Madhya Pradesh state government launched FIR Aapke Dwar Yojana 11 May in Bhopal. With this, Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to implement such an innovative scheme. It was launched by the Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Dr. Narottam Mishra.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has constituted a six-member committee to prepare a module for a phased resumption of training. The Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju announced that the athletes can start practice once the COVID-19 lockdown is lifted.The six-member panel will be headed by Rohit Bharadwaj SAI secretary.

The Union Ministry of Culture on Monday extended the nomination period for the Gandhi Peace Prize from April 30 to June 15. For the year 2020, last date for receiving the nominations was April 30. Due to COVID-19 lockdown throughout the country, the last date for receipt of nominations for the Gandhi Peace Prize 2020 has now been extended up to and including June 15.

The Bengaluru city corporation, Karnataka has launched Pranavayu programme to create awareness on the need to self examine the respiratory health for the city people. Pranavayu programme aims to create awareness through advertisements in media about the need to carry out self examination for early detection of any ailment that could aggravate the situation if contracted with the viral infection.

International Nurses Day (IND) is observed around the world on 12 May of each year. The international day marks the contributions that nurses make to society. The day assumes more significance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past several months, nurses and other medical professionals have put their lives on the line to save lives and defeat this menace.

CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) Bangalore has developed SwasthVayu, a Non-Invasive Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) Ventilator in a record time of 36 days to treat COVID-19 patients.

Tennis player Sania Mirza becomes 1st Indian to win ITF's Fed Cup Heart Award for Asia/Oceania zone through online voting by fans.

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) completed five years of its implementation on 9 May 2020. The scheme has achieved the milestone of 2.23 subscribers so far. APY was launched on 9 May 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The aim of the scheme is to deliver old age income security, particularly to the workers in the unorganized sector. APY can be subscribed by any Indian citizen in the age group of 18-40 years having a bank account. The scheme provides a minimum guaranteed pension ranging from Rs.1,000 to Rs.5,000 on attaining 60 years of age.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched integration of 117 additional wholesale mandis (APMC mandis) with the electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM) platform, taking the total number of online mandis to 962 across the country.

Centre extends deadline to complete seeding of Aadhaar numbers with ration cards till September 30.

The Department of Consumer Affairs has launched the Suraksha Store initiative. Under the initiative, the department has partnered with tech startups Safejob and Seekify to use technology to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at the local Kirana store level.

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Potters are using innovative methods to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. Every earthen pot made by the KVIC potters in Kishanganj village of Baran district in Rajasthan carries a message on ways to fight Coronavirus. The aim is to ensure that the message reaches every household and members of the family come across the message every time they drink water from it.