• India participated in the 19th Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) was held in the New York from May 6th to 10th May 2024.
• During the session, India highlighted the Country’s significant advancements in forest conservation and sustainable forest management which led to consistent increase in forest cover over the past fifteen years.
• India also introduced the ‘Green Credit Program’, designed to incentivize entities to take up tree plantation and restoration of degraded forest lands, which aims to further strengthen climate action initiatives.
• Globally, India ranks third in the net gain in the average annual forest area between 2010 and 2020.
• The recent celebrations marking 50 years of Project Tiger and 30 years of Project Elephant underscore India’s commitment to species conservation and habitat protection.
• In October 2023, India hosted the Country Led Initiative under UNFF at Dehradun which was attended by representatives from 40 countries and 20 international organizations and held discussions on forest fire management and forest certification.

ABOUT UNFF

• It is a high-level intergovernmental policy forum which includes all United Nations member states and permanent observers.
• It promotes “management, conservation and sustainable development of forests.
• It was established in year 2000 by the UN Economic and Social Council with its Headquarter in New York.

• The Centre for Human-Computer Interaction was recently launched at the IIT-Mandi.
• The establishment of CHCi, provides an ecosystem to promote excellence in translational research, resulting in products and platforms which could yield significant breakthroughs to address some of the nation’s priorities.

• The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, has developed biocontrol agent Trichoderma asperellum (2% WP) to combat ‘foot rot’ disease, commonly in Basmati rice varieties.
• This biocontrol agent will help farmers to manage the deadly ‘foot rot’ or ‘bakanae’ disease that plagues the crops of Basmati rice.
• At present, seedlings are treated with Trichoderma harzianum before sowing and transplantation. Seeds are also treated with fungicides such as Sprint 75 WS (carbendazim + mancozeb) before sowing.
  • These chemical treatments are harmful for the soil, and can be toxic for consumers of the rice.

ABOUT

• Foot rot is a fungal disease that affects Basmati rice crops particularly at the seedling stage, though it might also cause infection after transplantation in case infected seedlings are transplanted.
• It is caused by the fungus Fusarium verticillioides, a soil-seed borne pathogen which spreads the infection through the root of the plant, and eventually leads to the colonisation of the stem base.

• Tokyo Olympics bronze-medalist Bajrang Punia was provisionally suspended by the United World Wrestling (UWW) following National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA)
• Bajrang has been accused of refusing to provide his urine sample when a dope-control officer from NADA approached him after his bout at the selection trials for the Olympic qualification tournament in March.
• Dope refers to the use of prohibited performance-enhancing drugs taken by athletes. Under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) a sportsman has to give his location to the national anti-doping agencies and sample when demanded.

ABOUT

• He is the first Indian wrestler to be ranked world no.1 and first to win four world championship medals.
• He won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
• He was awarded by India’s highest sports award Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2019.

• ‘Bharat Parv’ to be celebrated at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.
• It will be for the first time that the country will host a “Bharat Parv” at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, for eminent dignitaries and delegates from around the world participating in the festival, to engage with film celebrities, filmmakers, directors, producers, buyers and sales agents from across the world.
• The official poster & trailer of the 55th India International Film Festival (IFFI) to be held in Goa on 20-28 November, 2024 will be unveiled at the Bharat Parv.
• The Bharat Pavilion which serves as a platform for the Indian film community to engage in various activities at the 77th Cannes Film Festival at 108 village International Riviera, will be inaugurated on May 15 in the presence of eminent film personalities.
• The Bharat Pavilion has been designed by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad is christened on ‘The Sutradhara’ for depicting this year’s theme of “Create in India”.

India put out a dominant show as they win four gold and two bronze medals in the Asian Open Pickleball Championship in Vietnam.

• Medals won in two men’s doubles, one mixed doubles, and one women’s doubles match.
• Sachin Pahwa and Priyanka Chhabra secured gold in mixed doubles intermediate 35+.
• Isha Lakhani and Pei Chuan Kao triumphed in women’s doubles open.
• Aniket Patel and Rohit Patil claimed gold in men’s doubles.
• Vijay Menon won the bronze medal
• Priyanka Chhabra won the bronze medal in women’s singles.

ABOUT

• Pickleball is a combination of tennis, table tennis, and badminton.
• This is a fast-growing sport across the world and in the recently concluded Bengaluru Open 2024 more than 400 participants from 17 states participated.

• Panama elected José Raúl Mulino, a former public security minister, as their next president by replacing Martinelli.
• He secured 34% of the vote, outpacing his closest rival, Ricardo Lombana, who received 25%.
• Mulino, 64, focused his campaign on job growth and promised to increase tourism and build a rail line connecting Panama City, the capital, with the country’s interior that would create construction jobs.

• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is set to begin work on the Shinku La tunnel.
• It will be the world’s highest at 15,800 ft, surpassing China’s Mila tunnel.
• It connects Manali to Leh.
• After spanning 4.1 km along the Nimmu-Padam-Darcha route, it will provide all-weather connectivity from Manali to Leh by reducing the distance of 60 km.
• This tunnel offers an alternative route to Ladakh, streamlining transportation to strategic areas like Kargil, Siachen and the Line of Control.

• Indian Army’s Kharga Corps and the Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted a three-day joint exercise in Punjab to validate the use of attack helicopters for mechanized operations.
• The exercise involved Apache and ALH-WSI helicopters, Unarmed Aerial Vehicles, and special forces of the Indian Army.
• The main focus was to practice centralised and decentralised attack helicopter missions duly supported by other force multipliers in a dense air defence environment and engagement of planned targets in the battlefield.

European Union adopts first law devoted to tackling violence against women.

• The sweeping law aims to protect women in the 27-nation EU from violence.
• It aims broadly to protect women from gender-related violence, encompassing a variety of offenses includes forced marriages, female genital mutilation and online harassment.
• The law criminalizes cyber stalking, cyber harassment and cyber incitement to hatred or violence across the EU.
• It sets minimum sentences, ranging from one year to five years in prison, depending on the crime.

ABOUT EU

• The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political union between 27 European countries.
• It was formed after World War II to foster economic cooperation and prevent further wars.