• World Bee Day is annually held on May 20^th to increase understanding and recognition of the vital role bees and other pollinators play in our ecosystem.
• United Nations introduced World Bee Day in 2017 to bring focus to the essential role played by bees and other pollinators in our ecosystems.
• May 20^th was selected as the date to honor the birthday of Anton Janša, a Slovenian beekeeping pioneer and renowned bee expert.
• The theme for World Bee Day 2023 is “Engaging in Pollinator-Friendly Agricultural Production.”

• Russia and Iran have signed a deal to build an Iranian railway line, the Rasht-Astara railway as part of International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
• It is intended to connect India, Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan and other countries via railways and sea – forming a route that can rival the Suez Canal as a major global trade route.

ABOUT RASHT ASTRA RAILWAY

• It is a 162km railway that will connect the city of Rasht (Iran) near the Caspian Sea, to Astara (Azerbaijan) on the border with Azerbaijan.
• Transportation along the new corridor will substantially cut travel times and costs and help develop new logistics chains.
• It would help to connect Russian ports on the Baltic Sea with Iranian ports in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf.
• It is an important and strategic step in the direction of cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL NORTH–SOUTH TRANSPORT CORRIDOR

• It is a 7,200-kilometer multi-modal transportation route linking the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Iran and onward to northern Europe via St. Petersburg in Russia.
• It was launched in September 2000 in St. Petersburg, by Iran, Russia and India for the purpose of promoting transportation cooperation among the Member States.
• Since then, INSTC membership has expanded to include 10 more countries – Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Syria, Belarus, and Oman.
  • Bulgaria has been included as an observer state. The Baltic countries like Latvia and Estonia have also expressed willingness to join.

• National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently conducted a nationwide operation called ‘Operation Dhvast’ targeting the interconnected network of terrorists, gangsters, and drug smugglers.
• It was aimed at breaking the terror nexus of terrorists, and other notorious gangsters involved in targeted killings, terror funding of pro-Khalistan outfits, and extortion, and smuggling of drugs and weapons.
• Collaborating with the police in Punjab and Haryana, the NIA carried out raids at 129 locations across multiple states.

About National Investigation Agency

• The NIA is a federal agency established in 2009 by the Indian government to investigate and prosecute crimes related to terrorism, insurgency, and national security.
• It was constituted under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, 2008 with headquarters at New Delhi.
  • It was formed in response to the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
• It operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs and has jurisdiction over matters that affect the entire country.
• The law under which the agency operates extends to the whole of India and also applies to Indian citizens outside the country.
• The agency was further empowered by the National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Act, 2019.
• The NIA is authorized to take over terrorism-related cases from state police forces and other agencies, and it can investigate cases across state boundaries without requiring prior permission from state governments.
• Functions include collecting, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence on terrorism and national security, coordinating with law enforcement agencies within and outside India, and prosecuting cases before the NIA Special Court.
• It seeks the sanction of the Central government for prosecuting accused individuals under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other scheduled offenses like Explosive Substances Act, Atomic Energy Act, Anti-Hijacking Act

• Tamil Nadu Forest department recently commenced a 3-day long elephant census at Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, after a gap of 6 years.
• The enumeration exercise will be conducted in all 10 forest ranges of Sathyamangalam, Vilamundy, Bhavanisagar, Hassanure, Geermalam, Thalavadi, Gettavadi, Jeerahalli, Kadambur and Thooka Naicken Palayam.

ABOUT SATHYAMANGALAM TIGER RESERVE

• It is located in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, in the Erode district of Tamil Nadu.
• It was declared a tiger reserve in 2013 and covers an area of 1,411 square km.
• The reserve is situated at the confluence of the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, making it a unique ecological zone.
• Its area is contiguous with the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Bandipur Tiger Reserve (Karnataka) and BR Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka).
• Together, these reserves — forming the Nilgiris biosphere landscape — have the biggest tiger population in the world, at over 280 tigers.
• The region is also a part of Nilgiri-Eastern Ghats Elephant Reserve.
• The Sathyamangalam forest is crisscrossed by several streams and rivers, including the Moyar River (an important tributary of the Cauvery River).
• Flora- It consists of southern tropical dry thorn forests, mixed deciduous forests, semi-evergreen forests, and Riparian forests.
  • Trees like Neem, Tamarind, Sandalwood, Randi dumetorum, Zizyphus are found.
• Fauna- Elephant, Tiger, Panther, Sloth bear, Gaur, Black Buck, Spotted deer, Wild boar, Black napped hare, Common langur, Nilgiri langur, Striped neck mongoose and Bonnet macaque.

• The EBRD HAS pledged further support for war-torn Ukraine with plans to increase its capital by 3 billion-5 billion euros.

ABOUT EUROPEAN BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT (EBRD)

• The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution.
• It was founded in April 1991 to support countries of the former Eastern Bloc in the process of establishing their private sectors.
• EBRD, as a multilateral development investment bank, uses investment as a tool in building market economies.
• HQ- London
• It provides project financing mainly for private enterprises, usually together with other commercial lending partners, in countries that are committed to, and apply, democratic principles.
• It prioritizes support for countries in Central and West Asia, and North Africa.
• The organization also promotes environmentally sustainable development and gender equality and promises to be fully transparent.
• It does not finance stand-alone gambling facilities, substances banned by international law, selected alcoholic products, defence-related activities and the tobacco industry.
• It is owned by 69 countries from five continents, as well as the European Union and the European Investment Bank.
• India became the EBRD’s 69^th shareholder when it joined the Bank in July 2018.

• The Himalayan Chandra Telescope of Indian Astronomical Observatory located in Hanle of Ladakh has joined hands with 10 other global telescopes to observe the brightening of BL Lacertae (BL Lac), a blazar located about 950 million light years away from Earth.

ABOUT HIMALAYAN CHANDRA TELESCOPE

• It is a 2 meter optical-infrared telescope named after Nobel laureate Subramaniam Chandrasekhar.
• It is situated at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) in Hanle near Leh in Ladakh.
• It is currently the tenth highest optical telescope in the world.
• The telescope remotely operated using a dedicated satellite communication link from the Centre for Research & Education in Science & Technology (CREST), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore.
• Imaging instruments include a Faint Object Spectrograph, a near infra-red and an optical CCD camera
  

ABOUT INDIAN ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY

• Indian Astronomical Observatory is situated at an altitude of 4500 meters atop Mt. Saraswati in the vast Nilamkhul Plain in the Hanle Valley of Changthang.
• Other major telescopes at IAO, Hanle site (except Himalayan Chandra Telescope):
  • GROWTH-India Telescope: It is the country’s first fully robotic research telescope.
  • High Altitude Gamma Ray Telescope (HAGAR): It is an atmospheric Cerenkov experiment with 7 telescopes setup in 2008.

The sixth Scorpene Submarine of Project-75, Indian Navy’s Kalvari class, ‘Vaghsheer’ commenced its sea trials recently.

ABOUT VAGHSHEER

• INS Vagsheer (S26) is the sixth submarine of the first batch of six Kalvari-class submarines for the Indian Navy.
• Vagsheer is named after the sand fish, a deadly deep-sea predator of the Indian Ocean.
• It is designed by French naval defence and energy group Naval Group and manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited.

ABOUT KALVARI-CLASS SUBMARINES

• It is a class of diesel-electric attack submarines based on the Scorpène-class submarine being built for the Indian Navy.
• It has been constructed with technology transfer from French firm Naval Groupunder a programme called Project 75.
• The state-of-the-art technology used in Scorpene-class has superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels and ability to launch crippling attacks with precision-guided weapons on board.
• They can attack through launching the torpedoes and anti-ship missiles while underwater or on the surface.

OTHER INFO

• INS Arihant is India’s first indigenous nuclear powered ballistic missile capable submarine.
• The Indian Navy currently operates sixteen diesel powered submarines.
• India’s submarine fleet is based at two locations: Visakhapatnam on the east coast and Mumbai on the west coast.

• Anurag Thakur, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, recently said that a centre of excellence would be set up in Hamirpur to hone young sporting talents and promote sports.
• The centre of excellence, which will spot young talent and prepare Olympiad-level sportspersons, will be established in Hamirpur in the next two years.

• The Libyan Parliament has expelled Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha, referring him for investigation.
• Finance Minister Osama Hamad has been appointed as his replacement.

• Health Ministry has unveiled the “75/25” initiative and Shashakt Portal, aiming to revolutionize the management and prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in India.
• This ambitious program sets a target of providing Standard Care to 75 million individuals with hypertension and diabetes by 2025.
• The Ministry plans to train 40,000 Primary Health Care Medical Officers on the Standard Treatment Workflow for NCDs through the Shashakt Portal.