Daily Current Affairs of 7th May 2020

• In one of the largest evacuation exercises named the Vande Bharat Mission, the government will operate 64 flights from today till May 13 to bring home nearly 14,800 Indian nationals stranded abroad due to the coronavirus lockdown.
• The 64 flights will include 10 flights from the UAE, 2 from Qatar, 5 from Saudi Arabia, 7 from UK, 5 from Singapore, 7 from United States, 5 from Philippines, 7 from Bangladesh, 2 from Bahrain, 7 from Malaysia, 5 from Kuwait and 2 flights from Oman.
• Meanwhile, Navy has also sent three of its ships under Operation Samudra Setu to get back stranded citizens from Maldives and UAE.
• INS Jalashwa and INS Magar will get back Indians from the Maldives while INS Shardul has been diverted to Dubai to get back the expatriates.
• Minister of External Affairs : S Jaishankar 
• Israeli lawmakers today approved the formation of a unity government between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his erstwhile election rival Benny Gantz. 
• The move paves the way to an end to more than a year of deadlock after holding three consecutive elections.

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced today that the total number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 52,952 after doubling in 11 days. 
• Meanwhile, the death toll due to coronavirus in India has reached 1,783. Out of the total cases, 35,902 cases are active, while 15,267 patients have been cured, discharged or migrated.
• 8 people died and around 200 people fell sick in a major leak of Styrene vapour from a private Polymers Limited plant in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).
• The incident occurred in the wee hours of today affecting at least five villages in the vicinity as the impact of the leak spread over a five-km radius.
• Most of the villagers, including children, suffered irritation in eyes, breathlessness, nausea and rashes due to leakage of Gas.
• Note :  
• Styrene, involved in the gas leak, is a synthetic chemical with texture of a colourless liquid. 
• It is highly flammable and releases a poisonous gas when burnt. 
• It's used in production of polystyrene plastics, fibreglass and rubber. 
• Harmful effects include severe irritation to eyes and gastrointestinal effects, while chronic exposure impacts central nervous system.

• India's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) today slashed benchmark lending rate by 15 basis points and introduced Special Deposit Scheme for senior citizens with higher interest rate. 
• With that, the marginal cost of funds based lending rate comes down to 7.25 per cent, from 7.40 per cent (with effect from 10th of May).
• The government today banned the export of Alcohol-based hand sanitisers to boost its availability in the domestic market amid coronavirus pandemic. 
• Meanwhile, the export of non-alcohol based sanitisers will be allowed, as per the notification issued by the government. 
• The government is seeking to lure over 1,000 US companies, including medical devices firm Abbott Laboratories, to relocate from China by offering incentives. 
• The government reached out to the firms in April through overseas missions. 
• India is prioritising medical equipment suppliers, food processing units, textiles and auto part makers among over 550 products.
• The procurement of wheat and rice (second crop) during the ongoing Rabi season has picked up pace despite severe logistical constraints posed due to the countrywide lockdown. 
• Against the target of 400 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of wheat, procurement for central pool has touched 216 LMT.
• It is particularly heartening since procurement in major wheat procuring states like Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh had started only after 15th April.
•  Similarly paddy procurement is also going on smoothly with 44.9 LMT paddy procured so far by the government agencies.
• Important Points to Note :  
• Punjab is leading the wheat procurement with 104.28 LMT procurement followed by Haryana with 50.56 LMT and Madhya Pradesh with 48.64 LMT. 
• Regarding paddy, maximum procurement has happened in Telangana where there has been a quantum jump in the production due to commissioning of large irrigation projects. 

• The Coir Board signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, to establish a “Centre of Excellence (CoE) for the application of Coir exclusively or in combination with other natural fibres”.

• The National Institute of Technology, Trichy and 6 Central Universities have been selected for the prestigious Prime Minister's Research Fellows (PMRF) scheme 2020. 
• Under the scheme, announced in the 2018 -19 Budget, each Institute will get around 20 PMRF scholars who are eligible to get a fellowship of 70,000 rupees per month for the first two years, 75,000 rupees per month for the 3rd year and 80,000 rupees per month in the 4th and 5th year. 
• Apart from this, a research grant of two lakh rupees per year will be provided to each of the fellows for a period of five years.

• Former Iraqi intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi has been sworn as Prime minister of the country by lawmakers amid an economic crisis due to falling oil revenues and the coronavirus pandemic.  
• A Pakistani youth, Rahul Dev, has become the 1st Hindu to join the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), having been recruited as a General Duty Pilot Officer.