Weekly Current Affairs Highlights – 3rd to 8th May.

On this page, you can read all the major news/Current Affairs of the week.

On a daily basis, we are covering all relevant Current Affairs under our various initiatives. For further reading, you can refer to our following initiatives:

1. 9 PM: Daily Current Affairs Summaries For UPSC 
2. Daily Editorials: Daily Current Affairs Editorials For UPSC 
3. Factly: Daily Current Affairs For Prelims

The reservation debate

This week the reservation issue took the spotlight after the Supreme Court’s landmark judgement that declared Maratha reservation Act as unconstitutional. We have covered a few important articles on the issue of reservation. They are,

• Supreme Court Upheld Validity of 102nd Constitution Amendment Act
• Maratha Reservation and the Reservation Policy in India – Explained, Pointwise
• SC struck down the Maharashtra State Reservation for SEBC Act, 2018

Updates in Polity and Governance

There are few updates received in the Polity and governance topics from the newspapers. The important updates are,

• Cannot Stop Media Reports on Court Observations – Supreme Court
• “Myanmar refugees” can approach UNHCR: Manipur HC
• [ Yojana Summary] Federalism during the Pandemic – Explained, Pointwise
• Reducing Independence of the Election Commission of India – Explained, Pointwise
• West Bengal Housing Industry Regulation Act (WB HIRA) is Unconstitutional: SC

Update on Social Issues

This week health and social welfare initiatives took the spotlight after the implementation of various pandemic restriction by state governments and Center. The important articles in this regard are,

Articles on Health:

• “SUTRA model” has flaws in predicting the pandemic – Scientists
• “AYUSH 64” Ayurvedic Drug Govt is Recommending for Mild Covid-19
• Ayush Ministry launches nationwide campaign for “AYUSH 64” & “Kabasura Kudineer”
• Project MediCAB: Augmentation of Hospital Infrastructure
• “Black Fungus Infection” Cases in Covid Patients
• One Health Approach – Significance and Steps Taken by India
• Use of CT scan for testing  Covid is not Correct
• Reason behind Covid Vaccine Shortage Crisis
• Managing Vaccine Shortage by Proper Gap Between Vaccinations

Articles on Education:

• CBSE’s New Assessment System for Class 10 Students

Others:

• “Pradhan Mantri VAN DHAN Yojana” (PMVDY) is Helping Rural Tribal Forest Economy
• Mandatory online certification for Persons with Disabilities through “UDID portal”
• Significance of Universal Social Welfare – Explained, Pointwise
• What is Social Murder and How to Ensure Accountability in Patrimonial state?
• Accessibility and Need of Social Media for Indian Women – An Analysis

Report and Indices

There are a few important reports and indices released this week. The important ones are;

• “World food price index” reaches highest level since May 2014: FAO
• COVID-19 hit urban poor more than those in villages: A Report by Hungerwatch
• GNAFC releases “Global Report on Food Crises 2021”
• “State of Working India 2021” – One Year of Covid-19 Report

Updates on International Relations

This week the important updates in International relations include the Virtual India-UK Summit, G7 Ministers Summit, etc. The important articles covered by us include

• US. Clears Sale of “P-8I Patrol Aircraft” to India
• What is Facebook’s Oversight Board?
• “India-UK Virtual Summit”
• “G7 Foreign Ministers Summit” Held
• Cabinet approves MoU between India and UK on “Global Innovation Partnership”
• India UK Relations and its challenges – Explained, Pointwise
• US forces in Afghanistan Starts their Final Phase of Withdrawal
• Impact of the Pandemic on India’s foreign Policy

Updates in Economy

This week the economic topics in news include articles on RBI’s economic measures to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, etc. The important articles on Economy are,

• India’s Oil Imports From OPEC Down To 20-Year Low
• SEBI technical group submits report on “Social Stock Exchanges(SSE)”
• RBI’s Economic Measures to Tackle 2nd Wave of Covid-19

Updates in Agriculture

• “Large Area Certification Scheme”

Science and Technology

Updates on Intellectual Property Rights

• ICMR will get royalty from the sale of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin
• IPR Waiver For Covid 19 Vaccines

Other updates in Science and Technology

This week there were few important updates in the field of science and technology such as solving the reason behind the Positron Excess Phenomenon, India’s decision to conduct 5G trials, etc. The important articles covered in this regard are,

• A Mystery Behind “Positron Excess Phenomenon” Solved by Researchers
• NASA’s “Crew-2 Mission” Launched
• “Mayflower 400” – World’s First Artificial Intelligence Ship
• The DoT gives permission to conduct “5G Technology Trials” in India
• How does an Oxygen concentrator help?
• New Malaria Vaccine Can be a Game Changer in Curtailing Malaria

Important updates on Environment

This week there were certain important updates on the Environment like the release of GM Mosquitoes, spotting of White-bellied Heron etc. The important articles that covered these topics are,

• First “genetically modified mosquitoes” released in US
• A report on “Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions”: India is the 3rd-largest emitter
• “White-bellied heron” spotted in Arunachal Pradesh
• “Olive Ridley turtles” likely to skip mass nesting on Rushikulya river mouth this year
• Long-term “nitrogen dioxide”(NO2) exposure affects lungs: Study
• Natural Gas Can be India’s Alternative Road to Clean Energy
• Climate Change is Shifting Earth’s Axis of Rotation

Updates on Disaster Management

• Frequent Hospital Fires during COVID Time in India- Cause and Way forward
• Guidelines of National Building Code to Ensure Fire Safety in Public buildings

Miscellaneous articles for Prelims this week

• “Putola Nach”: Assamese string puppetry used in the Covid-19 awareness campaign
• Interpol’s “ID-Art App” to help protect cultural property