19th May 2020 Current affairs

1. Maharashtra Government has divided the state into Red and Non-Red zones, moving away from the Centre’s directive to mark the state into Red, Orange and Green zones. The state has marked the all the municipal corporations of Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Solapur, Aurangabad, Malegaon, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Akola and Amravati as Red Zones and the rest will fall under non-red zone category.

2. The central government has declared six cities as five-star garbage-free cities. The cities include Ambikapur, Rajkot, Surat, Mysore, Indore and Navi Mumbai. Besides this, 65 cities were given 3 stars and 70 cities were rated with one star.

3. US President Donald Trump recently declared that he is taking the antimalarial drug-Hydroxychloroquine to help fend off the coronavirus infection. The drug is generally prescribed for the frontline healthcare workers treating the virus. It is not a proven shield against COVID-19.

4. The United Kingdom on May 19, 2020 unveiled a new post-Brexit tariff regime to replace the European Union’s external tariff. The UK Global Tariff (UKGT) will continue a 10% tariff on cars but will cut levies on many supply chain imports.
5. The United States has condemned Taiwan’s exclusion from the World Health Assembly. The US Secretary of State, Michael R Pompeo accused WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of choosing not to invite Taiwan under pressure from the People’s Republic of China in a press statement issued on May 18, 2020. 

6. Benjamin Netanyahu-led government was sworn into office in Israel on May 17, 2020 ending almost a year and half of divisive politics that saw three deadlocked elections. Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s rival-turned partner, took his oath of office as the alternate prime minister and future prime minister.

7. According to a report, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos could potentially become the world’s first trillionaire by 2026. The study done by Comparisun, a company which helps organisations compares different business products stated that the net worth of Bezos has grown by 34 percent on average over the last five years.

8. General Atlantic, a US investment firm, has decided to invest around Rs 6600 crore in Jio Platforms for a 1.34% stake. This deal will take the total investment in Jio Platforms to a combined total of ₹67,194.75 crore from the four investments.