• Peter Pellegrini, the candidate of the nationalist-left government, has won Slovakia’s presidential election, beating liberal, pro-western opposition candidate Ivan Korčok.
• He succeeds Zuzana Čaputová, the country’s first female head of state.

ABOUT SLOVAKIA

• Capital: Bratislava
• Currency: Euro

• Sam Pitroda launched ‘The Idea of Democracy’, expressed concern over democracy’s state in the US and India, highlighting 2024’s global elections.
• He discussed political challenges worldwide, including authoritarian regimes and social media’s role in misinformation.
• Highlighted cycle of elite regimes falling to public dissent, suggesting the current political-business elite facing rejection.

• The late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia Navalnaya will receive the “Freedom Prize of the Media” from a leading German forum.
• The prize is presented each year at the Ludwig Erhard Summit.
• Russian politician and former chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov received the award in 2023.
• Volodymyr Zelensky and former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev also received the award.

• The government has appointed Manoj Panda, former director at the Institute of Economic Growth as the full-time member of the 16th Finance Commission.
• He replaced the Niranjan Rajadhyaksha.
• The Sixteenth Finance Commission is expected to submit its report by October 31, 2025, outlining financial recommendations for the upcoming five-year period starting from April 1, 2026. The commission initiated its activities with its first meeting held on February 14, 2024.

MEMBERS OF THE 16TH FINANCE COMMISSION

• According to Article 280 of the constitution, the Finance Commission comprises a Chairman and four other members. The Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1951, enacted by the Parliament, mentions the qualifications of the Chairman and members of the Finance Commission.
• Chairman – Dr Arvind Panagariya, former vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog

OTHER MEMBERS

• Ajay Narayan Jha – former secretary of Expenditure, Union Ministry of Finance,
• Annie George Mathew– former special secretary of Expenditure, Union Ministry of Finance
• Manoj Panda – an eminent economist
• Soumya Kanti Ghosh– He has been appointed as a part-time member. He was the former group chief economic advisor of the State Bank of India.

• The Indian Navy has conducted a maritime security exercise called ‘Sagar Kavach’ in the strategically important Lakshadweep Island.
• The exercise involved the participation of all maritime security agencies, including the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Marine Police, Fisheries, Customs, and other security agencies.
• The exercise witnessed enhanced preparedness, response mechanism, surveillance capabilities and coordination between the coastal security stake holders.

• The first shipment of 24 Igla-S Man Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) from Russia, along with 100 missiles, has been received by the Indian Army.
• The procurement of these systems is aimed at enhancing the Indian Army’s Very Short-Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) capabilities, particularly in the high mountainous terrain along the northern border.
• India signed a contract with Russia in November last year for 120 launchers and 400 missiles. While the first batch has come from Russia, the rest of these systems will be made in India through Transfer of Technology (ToT) from Russia by an Indian company.

ABOUT IGLA-S:

• It is a man-portable air defence system (MANPADS) developed by
• It is known in the West as SA-24 Grinch.
• It entered service with the Russian Army in 2004.
• It can be fired by an individual or crew to bring down an enemy aircraft.
• It has the capability of bringing down low-flying aircraft. It can also identify and neutralise air targets, such as cruise missiles and drones.
• The Igla-S system comprises of combat equipment, including the 9M342 missile and the 9P522 launching mechanism, along with maintenance equipment, including the 9V866-2 mobile test station and the 9F719-2 test set.
• It has an effective range upto 6 km.
• The limiting altitude of effective target destruction for the “Igla-S” complex is 3.5 km.
• It has a heavier, more powerful warhead to maximize damage capabilities, as well as contact and timed fuzes for increased attack range.
• The warhead is a high-explosive fragmentation (HE-FRAG) and weighs 2.5 kg.

• The first-ever tri-service armed forces planning conference called’ Parivartan Chintan’ was held in New Delhi on 8 April 2024.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

• The conference was organised by the Union Ministry of Defence.
• The first tri-service planning conference was chaired by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan.
• Chief of the Indian Army General Manoj Pande, Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhary of the Indian Air Force and Admiral R.Hari Kumar of the Indian Navy represented the three services.
• The meeting of the chief of the three-armed forces, the Army, Navy and Air Force, was held in the background of the attempt in the country to set up a unified, integrated theatre command, combining all the three wings of the armed forces.
• The ‘Chintan’ was curated as a brainstorming and idea incubation discussion to generate new and fresh ideas, initiatives and reforms to further propel Jointness and Integration in the Armed Forces.
• Jointness and Integration are the cornerstones of the transformation to Joint Structures which the Indian Armed forces are progressing towards with the intention of being “Future Ready”.

ABOUT THEATRE COMMAND:

• In the military, theatre means a specific geographical location, which could be on land, air or sea. These identified areas are or could become areas of conflict in the future.
• The Lt. Gen (Retd) DB Shekatkar committee, set up by the Union Defence Ministry in 2015, recommended setting up an integrated tri-service command in India.
• In India, there are 19 commands of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Only two commands, the Andaman and Nicobar Command and the Strategic Forces Command, which is in charge of the country’s nuclear weapons, function as tri-service commands.
• The theatre system will provide India with an integrated warfighting capacity that can deter threats while also reducing operational costs.

• Sameer Rastogi, a 1988-batch Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) in the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, has taken charge as Chief Project Director (CPD) at Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Forestry Project.

ABOUT PROJECT:

• Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) assisted “Project for Improvement of Himachal Pradesh Forest Ecosystems Management and Livelihoods” is being implemented in seven districts i.e. Kinnaur, Shimla, Bilaspur, Mandi, Kullu , Kangra and Lahaul & Spiti. The project period is 10 years from 2018-19 to 2027-28.

• Max Verstappen of Red Bull dominated the Japanese Grand Prix, leading a one-two finish for his team alongside teammate Sergio Perez.
• Carlos Sainz of Ferrari took third place, ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc, who started from eighth on the grid.

• Indian Coast Guard Director General Rakesh Pal inaugurated the Indian Coast Guard Aquatic Centre at ICGS Mandapam near Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu.
• The ICG Chief is on a four-day visit to the maritime force’s bases in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Puducherry and made a maiden visit to Chennai for a review of operational preparedness and commensurate infrastructure development in the region.
• The Indian Coast Guard, Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force are the four forces under the Defence Ministry and are governed by their different acts.