Top Weekly Current Affairs – 2020 May 11 to May 17

Current affairs is one of the inevitable and compulsive topic in almost every competitive examinations. It is inevitable for an aspirant to get updated on daily current affairs happening around the world. Daily newspaper reading and follow-ups are necessary for mastering these current affairs section. In this article, we have provided the top weekly current affairs from May 11 to May 17, 2020 which will help all aspirants to improve scores in their competitive examination like PSC, SSC, RRB and Banking.

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Top Weekly Current Affairs for all Competitive Exams 2020 May 11 to May 17

Here are the list of top current affairs of the week May 11 to May 17, 2020 which will be helpful for all competitive examinations like PSC, SSC, RRB, Banking etc.

UN released commemorative stamp on 40th anniversary of Smallpox Eradication

• On May 9, 2020, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Postal Agency released a commemorative stamp to mark the 40th anniversary of eradication of smallpox.
  
• The World Health Organization smallpox eradication campaign was initiated in 1967.In 1980, the organization officially declared that the world is free from smallpox.
  
• Small pox was is now an eradicated disease in India. India eradicated small pox due to the small pox eradication programme of the WHO.
  
• In 1974, India was one of the highly affected countries of small pox in the world.It had over 86% of world small pox cases. With the help of WHO, India started “TARGET ZERO”.

SC places Cooperative banks under SARFAESI Act

• The Supreme Court of India recently pronounced its judgement that cooperative banks shall be placed under SARFAESI Act.
  
• The Supreme court has upheld the GoI notification dated January 28, 2003 under which the cooperative societies have come under SARFAESI Act.
  
• Sarfaesi Act is Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act.
  
• The banks utilize the act as a tool to recover bad loans, especially the non-performing assets.The act provides procedures to transfer Non-Performing Assets for reconstruction of assets.
  
• It also enforces security interests of the banks without intervention of the court. In order to recover a debt,the act empowers the financial institutions in India to take over immovable property.

GoI launches “Mission Sagar”

• On May 10, 2020, the Government of India launched “Mission Sagar”, an outreach programme amidst COVID-19 pandemic.
  
• The mission aims at providing food items, Ayurvedic medicines related to COVID-19, HCQ tablets to Maldives, Madagascar, Seychelles and Comoros.
  
• The Indian Naval Ship Kesari has been deployed under the mission. The operation is being conducted under close cooperation of the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of External Affairs.
  
• The mission has been deployed under close consonance with India’s vision “SAGAR” in the Indian Ocean.The mission can easily be related with India’s SAGAR vision. India has a strong Naval presence in all the four countries included in the mission.

DHRUVs: UV based Sanitizer by DRDO to sanitize phones

• The Research Centre Imarat (RCI) of Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) has developed Defence Research Ultraviolet Sanitizer (DHRUVS).
  
• The RCI of DRDO based in Hyderabad has developed a Ultra Violet Cabinet to sanitize mobile phones, laptops, iPads, passbooks, challans and paper.
  
• It can also be used to sanitize currency notes and papers.It provides 360-degree exposure to UV rays to the objects placed inside the cabinet.
  
• DHRUV is a contactless ultraviolet sanitizing cabinet that is highly useful to sanitize electronic gadgets.

COVID KAVACH: India’s first indigenous ELISA Test Kit for COVID-19

• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune has developed and validated the indigenous IgG ELISA test ‘COVID KAVACH ELISA’ for antibody detection for COVID-19.
• The kit is capable of testing 90 samples in a single run of 2.5 hours. The kit was jointly developed by ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) and NIV.
• The kit will test the presence of IGG antibodies in the sample. It is sensitive, cost-effective and rapid.
  
• The major advantage of the kit is that it requires minimal biosafety and biosecurity requirements as compared to that of the RT-PCR test.

“SWASTHVAYU” : India creates record developing ventilator in 36 days

• The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) NAL (National Aerospace Laboratories), Bengaluru has developed a ventilator called “Swasthvayu”. The ventilator has been designed in a record time of 36 days.
  
• The ventilator developed by CSIR is a Non-Invasive BiPAP Ventilator. The ventilator is made of a built-in biocompatible coupler and a high efficiency filter.
  
• The ventilator includes provisions to connect oxygen concentrators externally. The ventilator has been accredited by NABL.
• NABL is the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories. It tests and certifies medical devices, laboratories, testing providers.
  

PM Modi announces Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

• Government of India allocated total spending of Rs.20 lakh crore under “Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan or Self-reliant India Mission” to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
• This is among the largest economic stimulus packages announced by nations across the world. The allocated fund is about 10% of India’s GDP in 2019-20.
  
• The relief package includes Rs.1.7 lakh crore package the government had announced in March and the steps were taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) such as liquidity enhancing measures and interest rate cuts.

Manoj Ahuja appointed as new Chairman of CBSE

• Manoj Ahuja was appointed as the new Chairman of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on May 12, 2020.
  
• He will be replacing IAS officer Anita Karwal, who has been appointed as the Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy under Human Resource Development Ministry.
  
• Manoj Ahuja is a 1990 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre. He is currently serving as the Special Director at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration under the Department of Personnel and Training.

India ranked 74th on the global Energy Transition Index

• As per the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual rankings, India has secured the 74th position on the global Energy Transition Index (ETI). In the previous year, India ranked 76th.
  
• India showed improvements in all key parameters of economic growth, energy security, and environmental sustainability.
  
• In WEF rankings, Sweden topped for a third consecutive year in the ETI. It is followed by Switzerland and Finland in the second and third positions respectively.
  
• The 2020 results showed that 75% of countries have improved their environmental sustainability.

International Day of Families is observed on 15 May

• 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.
  
• The day highlights the various issues that plague the families around the world and suggests the necessary measures that can be taken to resolve these and build harmony.
  
• The theme for 2020 International Day of Families is “Families in Development.” The theme aims to portray the importance of families and their roles in social development.

Light Weight Carbon Foam Batteries developed by CSIR

• The researcher from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has developed light carbon foam that will replace lead batteries.
  
• The carbon foam is easy to fabricate, non-toxic and affordable.The researcher is a recipient of INSPIRE Faculty award.
  
• The material developed by the institute has the potential to replace lead-acid batteries. It is also useful to make heat sinks, electromagnetic interference shielding in aerospace, electrodes for lead-acid batteries, hydrogen storage and water purification systems.
  
• The raw materials to make the carbon foam is easily available. It also helps to remove oil, arsenic and other metals from contaminated water.
• The Carbon foams are porous. The pores in the batteries help increase efficiency.
  

GI Tag provided to Telangana’s Telia Rumal and Jharkhand’s Sohrai Khovar painting

• Sohrai Khovar painting and Telia Rumal were given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Geographical Indications Registry headquartered in Chennai.
  
• Jharkhand’s Sohrai Khovar painting is a traditional and ritualistic mural art. It is practised by local tribal women during local harvest and marriage seasons.
  
• The art is drawn using the local, naturally available soils of different colours in the area of the Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand.
  
• Telia Rumals are offered at the Ajmer Sharif dargah in Rajasthan. The cloth is worn as a veil by princesses at the erstwhile court of the Nizam of Hyderabad and as a turban cloth by Arabs in the Middle East.

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