Current Affairs - May 16, 2020 Current Affairs

According to the latest data of the United Nations World Tourism Organization(UNWTO) the international tourism could decline by 60-80% in 2020 when compared with 2019 figures, due to COVID-19 pandemic outbreak which will result in loss of USD 910 billion to USD 1.2 trillion and places millions of livelihoods at risk and threatens to curtail the progress made in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). Headquarters of UNWTO is in Madrid, Spain.

Gujarat state government is to implement a sensor-based service delivery monitoring system in the rural drinking water sector under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). The pilot project is already underway in two districts of the state. The state is primarily a water-stressed state. It has dealt with the crisis with a very strategic approach so far. The project aims to monitor the functionality of water supply, which is potable water in adequate quantity and of prescribed quality being provided to every rural household on regularly on a long-term basis.

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) has developed an injectable Silk fibroin-based hydrogel for sustained insulin delivery in diabetic patients.

Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda launched the "Going Online As Leaders (GOAL) programme" of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) in partnership with Facebook at a Webinar in New Delhi on 15 May.

Centre set up a new body Rice Export Promotion Forum (REPF) to give impetus to rice exports under the aegis of Agricultural and Processed Foods Export Promotion Development Authority(Apeda).

INSPIRE under the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India has developed porous carbon materials that have the potential to replace the lead grid in lead-acid batteries. The carbon foam was developed by Dr. Rajeev Kumar from CSIR-Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute, Bhopal, a recipient of the INSPIRE Faculty Award.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal participated in the second G-20 Virtual Trade and Investment Ministers Meeting. The meeting focused on immediate and concrete actions that can ease the distress being faced by people all over the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second G20 Ministers Virtual Meeting was held under the Saudi Presidency.

MoneyGram Payment System, a subsidiary of MoneyGram International, global leader in P2P payments tied up with Federal Bank Limited, a private bank in India to provide the customers a cost-effective way to receive deposits directly in their bank accounts in India.

Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan dedicated the COBAS 6800, first of its kind, testing machine at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to the nation on 14 May. GoI has procured such testing machines for testing of COVID-19 cases for the first time. It is installed at NCDC. COBAS 6800 is a fully automated, high-end machine that performs real-time PCR testing COVID-19 in the service of the nation. The device will provide high quality, high-volume testing with a high throughput of around 1200 samples in 24 hours. It will largely increase the testing capacity with the reduction in pendency.

International Day of Families is celebrated on 15 May every year. The day is celebrated to raise awareness towards the significance of families and to overcome the aspects that might be negatively affecting these efforts.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh commissioned Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Sachet and two interceptor boats (IBs) C-450 and C-451 in Goa through video conferencing from Delhi on 15 May. The ships are indigenously designed and built in the line of the Prime Minister's 'Make in India' vision.

In the United Nations(UN) World Economic Situation and Prospects(WESP) mid year report forecast that the COVID-19 pandemic situation will shrink the world economy by 3.2% in 2020 this is the sharpest contraction since the 1930's Great Depression and India's economy to grow at 1.2% in 2020.

According to the Global Forest Resources Assessment(FRA) 2020 released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO), the forest loss rate in 2015-2020 has declined to an estimated 10 million hectares(mha), down from 12 mha in 2010-2015.

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare stated that India's foodgrain production has been estimated to touch a record of 295.67 million tonnes (MT) in the 2019-20 crop year. The Ministry released the third advance estimate.As per the data provided by the Agriculture Ministry, it is the fourth consecutive year that the country has witnessed record production buoyed by good rains. This data showed an increase of 10.46 MT from 285.21 MT achieved in the 2018-19 crop year.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the third Tranche of Rs.20 lakh Economic Package on 15 May in New Delhi. On 12 May, Prime Minister Modi announced an Economic relief Package of Rs.20 lakh crore with an aim of making it "Atma Nirbhar" or self-reliant.Centre allocated Rs.4000 crore for the promotion of herbal cultivation. Under this, 10,00,000 hectares will be covered in the next 2 years. Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana for the development of marine and inland fisheries will be given Rs.20,000 crore. It is expected to generate job opportunities for 55 lakh people.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued a guideline for Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based pooled sampling for migrants, returnees from abroad, and green zones. The guidelines are for the surveillance purposes of migrant labourers and international passengers who are in institutional quarantine facilities. Pooled sampling will be conducted for surveillance purposes in green zones districts which have not reported any COVID-19 positive case in the last 21 days. The guidelines state that a cohort of 25 people will be identified and the throat or nasal swab will be collected as per the Indian Council for Medical Research's (ICMR) protocol.

The West Bengal (WB) Government (govt) launched 'Matir Smristi' scheme to utilise 50,000 acres of barren land in 6 districts for income-generating activities like horticulture and pisciculture involving the locals. Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee also added that the scheme will benefit around 2.5 lakh people in rural Bengal.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare participated in the 32nd Commonwealth Health Ministers' Meeting through Video Conference on 14 May. The timely, graded, and proactive measures taken by the Indian government towards COVID-19 management were highlighted during the meeting. The theme of the conference was "Delivering a co-ordinated Commonwealth COVID-19 response."

The Head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Roberto Azevedo has announced his resignation, a year before his term expires. He will step down on 31 August 2020.

Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has developed an e-Governance platform, SAMARTH Enterprises Resource Planning (ERP), under the National Mission of Education in Information and Communication Technology Scheme (NMEICT). The aim of the e-Governance platform, SAMARTH, is to provide quality education to students across all Universities & Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). SAMARTH is an Open Standard Open Source Architecture, Secure, Scalable, and Evolutionary Process Automation Engine for Universities and Higher Educational Institutions.