CURRENT AFFAIRS 20 MAY 2021

• Jagannath Pahadia, former CM passes away The former Chief Minister of Rajasthan Jagannath Phadia passed away on May 19, 2021, due to COVID-19. He was the first to become the Chief Minister of the state in 1980- 81. Pahadia was also a former Governor of and . PM Modi and Rajasthan CM expressed their condolences on his demise • Health Ministry asks States/UTs to make Mucormycosis notifiable disease under Epidemic Act The Union Health Ministry in a letter to the States and Union Territories on May 19, 2021 has asked them to make Mucormycosis or black fungus a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897.The Ministry stated in the letter that the treatment of the fungal infection requires a multidisciplinary approach consisting of Eye Surgeons, ENT specialists, General surgeons and Neurosurgeon. • Delhi to set up dedicated treatment centres for Black fungus in thrNeurosurgeon Delhi Government informed on May 19, 2021 that it has decided to set up dedicated treatment centres for black fungus in three hospitals in the national capital. The Delhi CM informed that dedicated treatment centres for black fungus will be set up in Delhi's Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTB) and Rajiv Gandhi Hospital. • Milkha Singh tests positive for Covid-19 Sporting legend Milkha Singh has tested positive for Covid-19, confirmed his son. He is currently in isolation at his home in . Milkha Singh, also known as The Flying Sikh, is the only Indian athlete to win gold in the 400m at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games. He also won gold in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games and represented India in the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, 1960 Rome Summer Olympics and the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics. • EU Parliament likely to pass motion to freeze European Investment Agreement with China The European Union Parliament is expected to pass a motion that formally freezes the European Investment Agreement with China in the wake of sanctions on EU lawmakers by the nation. The draft motion also calls on the European Union (EU) to step up coordination with the US to deal with China. • ICMR approves CoviSelf kit for purpose of home testing for symptomatic patients The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved the CoviSelf kit for at- home testing. The testing will enable the individual to test himself or herself. The test kits will be made available in the market in the next 3-4 days. The ICMR said in its advisory that the user will have to download the mylab app on their mobile phones for the test. The app is a comprehensive guide of the testing procedure and will provide a positive or negative test result to the patient. • Government asks WhatsApp to withdraw its updated privacy policy The Union Government has asked WhatsApp to withdraw its updated privacy policy and has also sent a notice to the messaging platform in this regard. As per the government, the privacy policy of WhatsApp undermines the values of data security and informational privacy. • Black Fungus declared an epidemic in Rajasthan Rajasthan State Government has declared Black Fungus or Mucromycosis as an epidemic as the state a surge in a number of Black Fungus cases. As per the Ministry of Health, the disease is being detected in those patients who have recovered or have been recovering from COVID-19. It is caused due to steroids used in Covid treatment • Government to launch DD International Doordarshan, a state-owned broadcaster, has been planning to launch DD International for projecting India’s voice globally on important domestic and global issues. The draft Expression of Interest by Prasar Bharati states that the objective of DD International will be to build a global presence for Doordarshan.