Bhavi Mehta won the 9th Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2024 for ‘The Book Beautiful’ by Pradeep Sebastian.

• The event was held at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
• Mehta received a trophy, certificate and a cash prize of INR 1 lakh.
• Three other designers were also recognised for their exceptional work, namely:
  • Gunjan Ahlawat for ‘The Penguin Book of Indian Poets’
  • Saurav Das for ‘Azad Nagar’
  • Saurabh Garge for ‘The Adornment of Gods’.

ABOUT OXFORD BOOKSTORE ART BOOK PRIZE:

• It was launched in 2022 with the Visual Arts Gallery, and recognises art across various genres in publications.
• It aims to celebrate and support artists, designers, and publishers in India.

• The Indian Army is set to receive its first Hermes-900 drones also known as the Drishti-10 drones on June 18 in Hyderabad.
• It is being supplied by Adani Defence Systems to Indian forces including Indian Army and Navy.
• Adani Defence had signed a deal with the Israeli firm Elbit for the transfer of technology for the drones.
• The Indian Army will deploy the drones at its Bhatinda base from where it can keep an eye on the entire western border with Pakistan.
• The first Hermes-900 was delivered to the Indian Navy in January 2024 and is going to position them in Porbandar to keep an eye on the maritime boundary with Pakistan.

ABOUT HERMES 900:

• The Hermes 900 is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is currently in active deployment in the intense Israel-Hamas conflict.
• These UAVs, equipped with high-performance sensors and also have proven instrumental in detecting ground or maritime targets across a wide spectral range and are capable of executing ground target attacks.
• They can perform ground support and maritime patrol missions.
• These drones are also capable of performing missions for area dominance, persistent intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR).

• The 2024 World Wildlife Crime Report was released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on May 13, 2024.
• The report provided insights into the illegal wildlife trade that occurred between 2015 and 2021.
• According to the report, the rhino and the cedar were the animal and plant species most affected by global illegal wildlife trade during 2015-2021.

AFFECTED ANIMAL SPECIES :

• The market for Rhino horn constituted 29 percent the biggest chunk among animal species.
• It was followed by the market for pangolin scales at 28 percent and the market for elephant ivory at 15 percent.

AFFECTED PLANT SPECIES :

• Cedars and other Sapindales like mahogany, holy wood and Guiacum constituted the biggest market at 47 percent.
• Rosewoods were second at 35 per cent.
• Agarwood and other myrtales like ramin and eucalyptus were third at 13 percent.

ABOUT WORLD WILDLIFE CRIME REPORT :

• It was the third edition 2024 of the report and earlier editions published in 2016 and 2020.
• It “probes trends in the illicit trafficking of protected wildlife species and presents analyses of wildlife crime harms and impacts.

China has overtaken the US as India’s largest trading partner with a bilateral trade of $118.4 billion, as per the data from the economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) 2024.

• With China India’s exports rose by 8.7 percent to $16.67 billion, while imports increased by 3.24 percent to $101.7 billion.
• The bilateral trade between India and the US stood at $118.3 billion in 2023-24.
• In 2023-24, the UAE with USD 83.6 billion was the third largest trading partner of India. It was followed by Russia ($65.7 billion), Saudi Arabia ($43.4 billion), and Singapore ($35.6 billion).
• China was India’s top trading partner from 2013-14 till 2017-18 and also in 2020-21.
• US was the largest partner in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has appointed senior diplomat Xu Feihong as the new Ambassador to India after an unusually long delay of 18 months.

• Xu, 60, has succeeded veteran Chinese diplomat Sun Weidong who was completed his tenure in India in October 2022.
• Xu said in interaction, “China is ready to work with India to accommodate each other’s concerns and find a mutually acceptable solution to specific issues through dialogue at an early date”.

• Chinese Academy of Sciences announced that the High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) a major national science and technology infrastructure has successfully accelerated the first electron beam with full energy.
• Located in Huairou, Beijing and built by the Institute of High Energy Physics, HEPS
• It is one of the brightest fourth-generation synchrotron radiation facilities worldwide after its construction is complete and it will serve in the various fields such as advanced materials, aerospace, and biomedicine.
• Its construction was started in June 2019 and was originally scheduled to take 6.5 years but it was completed almost two years earlier than expected.
• Significance : Improving the development strategy and promoting innovation in basic science and high-tech fields within China.

• Eminent author Ruskin Bond has been awarded by the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship.
• He has been actively writing for more than 50 years and has written in various genres of literature, including short stories, children’s books, novels, autobiographical works and non-fiction.
• His notable works include ‘Vagrants in the Valley’, ‘Once Upon a Monsoon Time’, ‘Angry River’, ‘Strangers in the Night’, ‘All Roads Lead to Ganga’, ‘Tales of Fosterganj’, ‘Leopard on the Mountain’ and ‘Too Much Trouble’.
• He is also a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992, Sahitya Akademi’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar in 2012, Padma Shri in 1999 and Padma Bhushan in 2019.

ABOUT SAHITYA AKADEMI AWARD :

• It is the highest honour given by the literary organisation.
• Objective: To promote literature in Indian languages.
• Established in 1954 as an autonomous body under the Union Culture Ministry.
• It was registered as a society in 1956 under the Societies Registration Act of 1860.

• The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 25th May as the World Football Day by adopting a resolution during the 80th plenary meeting of the General Assembly in New York.
• The resolution was passed unanimously by the 193-member General Assembly and it was co-sponsored by more than 160 countries.
• Significance : The day marks the 100th anniversary of the first international football tournament in history with the representation of all regions which took place on May 25, 1924 during the summer Olympic Games held in Paris.

ABOUT:

• The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ comprising all Member States provides a forum for multilateral discussion on international issues.
• It has 193 Members.
• Headquarter : New York USA
• Established in 1945 by UN.

• Held in in remote areas of Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh by Indian Army.
• Objective : To improve the standard and quality of education.
  • Empowering women through various training programmes organised in Vocational Training Centres.
• Funds : Total of Rs 8.82 crore of ‘Operation SADBHAVANA’ funds have been allotted for the Union Territory of Ladakh during the financial year 2022-23.
• Indian Army is presently running seven 7 Army Goodwill Schools (AGS) under this mission.

ABOUT:

• It is also known as Operation Goodwill.
• It was launched in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to addressing the aspirations of those people affected by terrorism.
• SADBHAVANA means ‘harmony’, therefore it is also called as Operation Harmony.

• Celebrated annually on the second Saturday in May and the second Saturday in October.
• Theme for World Migratory Bird Day 2024 is “Insects”.
• Objective : To raise awareness of the threats faced by migratory birds during their perilous journeys, their ecological importance and the need for international cooperation to conserve them.

ABOUT :

• WMBD is organized by a collaborative partnership among two UN treaties –the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) -and the non-profit organization, Environment for the Americas (EFTA).