Daily Current Affairs, 08th May 2020

1) World Red Cross Day observed globally on 8 May

•World Red Cross Day is observed globally on 8 May every year. This day is observed to commemorate the birth anniversary of the Red Cross and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) founder, Henry Dunant. This day is dedicated to the people who suffer from shortage of food, several natural calamities, war as well as from an epidemic disease.

2) World Thalassaemia Day 2020: 8 May

•World Thalassaemia Day is observed globally on 8 May every year. This day is observed to raise awareness about thalassaemia disease, its preventive measures and to avoid transmission and the importance of vaccination for children’s health, society and among the people throughout the world. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, World Thalassaemia Day 2020 will be celebrated through different online activities.

The World Thalassaemia Day 2020 theme:

•The World Thalassaemia Day 2020 theme: “The dawning of a new era for thalassaemia: Time for a global effort to make novel therapies accessible and affordable to patients”.




3) Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the World War II

•Every year during May 8-9, the United Nations marks the Time of Remembrance and reconciliation for those who lost their lives during the Second World War. The day pays tribute to all the victims of the Second World War. This year is the 75th Anniversary of World War II.

•The day was declared in 2004 as was commemorated by the United Nations since then. However, the UN urged the NGOs, its member countries and other organizations to join the commemoration of the day through a resolution that was passed in 2010. The date, however, is not the official end of second world war. This is because, Japan did not surrender till August 15, 1945.

4) GoI launches ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ exercise to bring Indians from abroad

•The Government of India has launched its biggest-ever evacuation exercises named the “Vande Bharat Mission”. In this exercise, the government bring back nearly 15,000 Indian nationals stranded abroad due to the coronavirus lockdown.

•Under the mission, to be undertaken in a phased manner, the government will operate 64 flights from 07 May till May 13, 2020, to repatriate its citizens from 12 countries. The 64 flights will include 10 flights from the UAE, 2 from Qatar, 5 from Saudi Arabia, 7 from the UK, 5 from Singapore, 7 from the United States, 5 from the Philippines, 7 from Bangladesh, 2 from Bahrain, 7 from Malaysia, 5 from Kuwait and 2 flights from Oman.

5) Union Health & Family Welfare Minister launches “AYUSH Sanjivani” App

•Union Health & Family Welfare Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan has recently launched the mobile application ‘AYUSH Sanjivani’ App and two AYUSH based studies related to COVID-19 situation.

•The app was developed by the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY). The AYUSH Sanjivani mobile app will help to generate data on acceptance and usage of AYUSH advocacies and measures among the population and its impact on the prevention of COVID-19. It is expected to reach out to a target of 50 lakh people.

6) MP becomes 1st state to provide Mid-Day Meal ration

•Madhya Pradesh has become the 1st state in the country to provide mid-day meal ration. Distribution of the mid-day Meal ration with the help of Anganwadi workers, Panchayat representatives and local teachers was taken in sending ration to the students at their home after the school closing in April.

•To provide mid-day meal to school children in the corona outbreak an amount of Rs 117 crore has been transferred online in the bank account of the parents of 66 lakh 27 thousand students of primary and secondary school by the state government. Under door-to-door mid-day meal scheme, ration has also been provided to 56 lakh 87 thousand children. 

7) China launches new rocket “Long March 5B” successfully

•China has successfully launched a new rocket named “Long March 5B” into space as it steps up Moon landing plans. This rocket is launched in Wenchang launch site that is located on the island of Hainan, china.

•The rocket is a massive vehicle and is being compared with deep space Orion capsule of NASA. The rocket in the future will help China transport astronauts to space station by 2022. The rocket launch will also aid China in its plans of building a huge space station called “Tiangong”. Tiangong is the space station programme of China.

8) Iran introduces new currency “Toman” to tackle Inflation

•The Government of Iran recently takes a decision of changing the name of its currency to a “Toman”.  Under the bill, Iran national currency is going to be changed from the rial to the Toman, which is adequate to 10,000 rials.

•The idea of removing four zeros has been floated since 2008 but gained strength after 2018 when U.S. President Donald Trump exited Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions because the rial lost quite 60% of its value. Iran’s weak currency and high inflation have led to sporadic street protests since late 2017.

9) UNEP extends actress Dia Mirza term as goodwill ambassador till 2022

•The United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) extended the term of Bollywood actress and environmentalist Dia Mirza as the Goodwill Ambassador of India till 2022. The actress is also the United Nations Sustainability Development Goal Advocate. As a Goodwill Ambassador, Mirza will continue work with the UN to further spread the message on key areas including clean air, clean seas, wildlife protection and climate change.

10) IMD’s forecast now includes PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan

•The Indian Meteorological Department has begun to include Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Ladakh and Muzaffarabad into its meteorological sub-division of Jammu and Kashmir.

•The change reflects the changed status of Ladakh. It also comes with underlying message to the Pakistan Government. The change comes after Pakistan Government. The change comes after Pakistan Government decided to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan. On April 30, the apex court of Pakistan allowed to set up a caretaker government in the Gilgit-Baltistan region and conduct provincial assembly elections.