Daily Current Affairs, 16th May 2020

1) Armed Forces Day 2020: 16th May

•Armed Forces Day is observed on the third Saturday in May. In 2020, it falls on the 16th of May. This day is celebrated to pay tribute to the men and women who served the United States Armed Forces.

•This day plays an important role in educating society and provide knowledge to the public about the military and the role Armed Forces play in the community. Armed Forces Day is a joint celebration of all six branches of the U.S. military: Army, Air Force, United States Marine Corps (United States Marines), Coast Guard, US Navy, and therefore the newly created Space Force.

2) International Day of Light celebrated on 16 May

•The International Day of Light is celebrated every year on 16th May to celebrate the role that light plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable development, and also in the fields as diverse as medicine, communications, and energy. The day also marks the anniversary of first successful operation of the laser in 1960 by physicist and engineer, Theodore Maiman.

•The celebration of International Day of Light will enable various sectors of society worldwide to get indulge in activities that displays how science, technology, art and culture can help in achieving the goals of UNESCO i.e. building the foundation for peaceful societies.

3) “Atmanirbhar Gujarat Sahay Yojana” launched in Gujarat

•“Atmanirbhar Gujarat Sahay Yojana” as been launched by the Gujarat Government. The scheme aims to provide an interest subsidy, a moratorium as well as a collateral free loan of up to Rs 1 lakh. All the above facilities has been launched for over a million small traders, street-vendors and small professionals in the state. Gujarat government has a target of lending around Rs 5000 crore via the loan that carries a tenure of 3 years.

•Loans under the “Atmanirbhar Gujarat Sahay Yojana” would be available at 2% annual interest while the remaining 6% interest would be borne by the state government. A moratorium period of 6 months would also be provided to the beneficiary in which he would not be required to pay either interest of principal amount during this time. It means that the re-payment of principal and interest will start after six months of sanction. The loans under the “Atmanirbhar Gujarat Sahay Yojana” would be available via written application at co-operative banks, district banks and credit co-operative societies.

4) ‘GOAL’ programme launched for Digital Skilling of Tribal Youth

•“GOAL (Going Online As Leaders)” programme has been launched by the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda for Digital Skilling of Tribal Youth. The Going Online As Leaders (GOAL) is a joint initiative of Facebook India with Ministry of Tribal affairs.

•The GOAL programme aims to offer mentorship to tribal youth via digital mode and intends to act as a catalyst to explore hidden talents of the tribal youth. This will led to the personal development of the tribal youth and will also add to all-round upliftment of their society.

•The program has a target to empower 5,000 tribal youths in the present phase in order to harness the full potential of digital platforms as well as tools to understand new ways of doing business, explore and connect with domestic and international markets. There will be 1 mentor for 2 mentees in the programme which aims to enable the Scheduled Tribe (ST) youth in remote areas to utilize digital platforms for sharing their dreams and talent with their mentors.

5) Union HRD Minister e-launches 7 titles under NBT’s Corona Studies series

•Under the corona studies series published by NBT India, Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has e-launched 7 titles as print and e-edition. These 7 titles are based on “Psycho-Social impact of pandemic & lockdown and how to Cope With”.

•To document and provide relevant reading materials for all age-groups for the post-Corona readership needs, the National Book Trust India has conceptualized the Corona Studies Series. The first sub series of books focuses on ‘Psycho-Social Impact of Pandemic and How to Cope With’ which has been created by a study Group including seven psychologists and counsellors constituted by NBT.

6) “MIR AHD Covid-19 Dashboard” developed by IIT Gandhinagar

•An interactive COVID-19 dashboard named as “MIR AHD Covid-19 Dashboard” has been developed by the researchers at IIT Gandhinagar. The dashboard aims to provide key information to stakeholders and the public in order to make research-backed decisions during the time of crisis. This interactive dashboard can assist the administrators, hospitals and also the public in planning optimised examination for the novel coronavirus. It can also help in containing the community infection in various post-lockdown scenarios.

•The “MIR AHD Covid-19 Dashboard” offers different epidemiological scenario-specific information at a city-scale and combines the complex social as well as transportation patterns with state-of-the-art epidemic spread models. It can also share the information about the most critical intersections in the city to the stakeholders, if it decides to implement “drive-through testing”.

7) Delhi Police launches “Thermal Corona Combat Headgear”

•Delhi Police has launched an equipment “Thermal Corona Combat Headgear” in collaboration with Indian Robotics Solution (IRS). This equipment has been launched to protect the frontline corona warriors from the COVID-19. This unique equipment enables the police personnel to detect temperature of a large number of people from a distance of 10-15 metres and also helps in enforcing social distancing norms.

•“Thermal Corona Combat Headgear” enables the frontline workers to scan people without coming in close contact with them in public areas such as hospitals, supermarkets and crowded areas. It has also the facility of sending live imagery to a centralised control centre. Along with this, the Delhi Police has also launched “Thermal Corona Combat Drone (TCCD)”. It has can help in seeing the real image of the personnel with the help of day-vision camera fitted with the drone. It also consist of a loudspeaker for giving instructions.

8) GoI & AIIB signs agreement to improve irrigation services in West Bengal

•A loan agreement for a US$145 million project has been signed by the Government of India, the Government of West Bengal and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). This project has a prime objective of improving irrigation services and flood management in the Damodar Valley Command Area (DVCA) in West Bengal. It will also include introduction of a modern Management Information System (MIS) aling with rational asset management.

•The West Bengal Major Irrigation and Flood Management Project is expected to benefit about 2.7 million farmers by optimizing the use of surface and groundwater. This would be achieved by improving the irrigation efficiency through infrastructure rehabilitation and modernization. It will also strengthen the flood management in order to boost agricultural productivity as well as to increase incomes in rural areas. Hence, this investment emphasizes on improving the livelihood of farmers and hence boosting the regional economy.

•The total valuation of the project is $413.8 million, co-financed between the AIIB ($145 million), the Government of West Bengal ($123.8 million) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) ($145 million).