Top Best Current Affairs 14 May 2020

India participated in a meeting of foreign ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on May 13, 2020. The External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar represented India at the meet which saw the participation of foreign ministers from eight countries. The meeting was called to discuss ways to cooperate in the fight against COVID-19. Headquarters of SCO is in Beijing.

Gujarat-based Macpower unveiled indigenous hot air seam sealing machines for PPE kits. This is India's first indigenous hot air seam sealing machine. It can be used to manufacture PPE kits at half the price of the imported ones. The machine was unveiled by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

Goa CM Pramod Sawant announced on May 11, 2020 that the state will soon develop its own Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the tourists visiting the place.

Two scientific papers of India on child survival by the State-Level Disease Burden Initiative stated that the under-5 Mortality Rate in India has dropped by 49% since 2000. Also, there is a six-fold variation in the rate between states and an 11-fold variation between various districts.

"CHAMPIONS" portal has been launched by the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). It is a technology driven Control Room-Cum-Management Information System. CHAMPION stands for Creation and Harmonious Application of Modern Processes for Increasing the Output and National Strength. This portal is a one-stop-shop solution of the MSME Ministry. The "CHAMPIONS" portal utilises modern ICT tools such as telephone, internet and video conference, and aims to assist Indian MSMEs to march into big league as National and Global CHAMPIONS.

The Election Commission of India has set up a 3-member committee of officers to examine details of Gujarat High Court's judgement on the election petition concerning Dholka assembly constituency. The Committee, headed by Umesh Sinha, Secretary General ECI, will comprise two members- Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner and Vijay Pandey, Director, Law. The committee will be required to examine the details of the judgement and present the same before the Commission at the earliest.

Telangana has become the first state to regulate the cultivation of crops by telling farmers what to grow as a part of its pilot project. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao issued a statement on May 12, 2020 saying that the state will limit growing of paddy to 50 lakh acres.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that emergency liquidity worth Rs 90000 crore to be infused in the power distribution firms, as a part of AatmaNirbhar Economic Package. This will be done with state issuing guarantees. With the infusion of the money, the power distribution firms will pay the power generation companies. The rebate will be given to those discoms, which will pass it on again back to the consumers.