VisionIAS
17:56
1) World Telecommunication and Information Society Day: 17th May
•The theme of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day of 2020: “Connect 2030: ICTs for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”
2) World Hypertension Day observed globally on 17th May
•The theme for World Hypertension Day 2020: Measure Your Blood Pressure, Control It, Live Longer. The theme focuses on increasing high blood pressure (BP) awareness in all populations around the world.
•The WHL has announced that it will postpone the celebration of World Hypertension Day (WHD) 2020 until October 17, 2020, due to global COVID-19 pandemic.
3) International Museum Day celebrated on 18 May
•International Museum Day was celebrated for the first time 40 years ago. The day is being celebrated all around the world and also features the participation of more and more museums from the worldwide.
4) NDMA develops dashboard “National Migrant Information System”
•A central repository on migrant workers would be maintained by the dashboard NMIS. It will also support in speedy inter-State communication/co-ordination to facilitate the smooth movement of migrant workers to their native places. It also comprises of additional advantages such as contact tracing, which may be beneficial in the overall COVID-19 response work. With the help of the data integrated in the dashboard, the states will be able to visualize how many people are going out from where and how many are reaching their destination States.
5) Defence Testing Infrastructure scheme approved by Defence Minister
•The Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme intends to set up Greenfield Defence Testing Infrastructure as a common facility in Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs), under the private sector with government assistance. The scheme will run for 5 years and envisages the setting up of six to eight test facilities in partnership with private industry.
6) Benjamin Netanyahu secures 5th term as Israeli Prime Minister
Under the three-year coalition deal:
•Netanyahu will serve as Prime Minister for the coming 18 months, which would keep him in power until November 13, 2021.
•Till then Benny Gantz will serve as the Defence Minister of the country.
•After 18 months, both of them will swap their roles and Netanyahu will become Defence Minister while Gantz will be the new Prime Minister.
7) NRAI tie-up with DotPe to build tech platform
•NRAI is the apex body of the Food and Beverage Industry in India. This partnership would directly take on existing food-tech aggregators, Zomato and Swiggy. NRAI represents over five lakh restaurant businesses. It is also looking for different delivery and logistics companies. It is also exploring synergies with social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram to provide and ordering facilities and visibility for restaurant partners who could potentially be its members.
8) HDFC’s Zubair Iqbal becomes new MD of J&K Bank
•RK Chibber, who currently holds the position of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of J&K Bank, will continue to serve as the Chairman of the bank for the next three years. The appointments are based upon the continuous directions by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to separate the positions of Chairman and Managing Director for better governance.
9) A Book titled “Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City” authored by Fang Fang
•On January 25, 2020, after the Chinese central government imposed a lockdown in Wuhan, Fang Fang began publishing an online diary. In the following days & weeks, author’s nightly postings gave voice to the fears, frustrations, anger, and hope of millions of her fellow citizens, which reflects the psychological impact of forced isolation, the role of the internet as both community lifeline and source of misinformation, and the lives of neighbours and friends taken by the deadly virus.
