Current Context : Carlos Alcaraz  won the men’s final match of the French Open tennis tournament against Germany’s Alexander Zverev.

• Held at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris.
• Carlos Alcaraz wins 1st French Open Title After Beating Zverev In 5-Set Thriller.
• He had won the opening set 6-3 after breaking Zverev’s serve three times.
• He earning a third Grand Slam title by winning the men’s final.

ABOUT FRENCH OPEN TOURNAMENT

• The French Open also known as Roland-Garros is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in the late May each year.
• The tournament and venue are named after the French aviator Roland Garros.
• Officially named in French Internationaux de France de Tennis.
• Prize money – €49,600,000

Founded in 1891

Current Context : Sub Lieutenant Anamika B. Rajeev became the Indian Navy’s first woman helicopter pilot during a passing out parade held in the  air station INS Rajali at Arakkonam in Ranipet district.

• She flew a MiG-21 Bison in her first solo flight.
• She became the first woman pilot who will be allowed to fly helicopters such as Sea Kings, ALH Dhruvs, Chetaks and MH-60R Seahawks.
• Sub-Lieutenant Rajeev and Lt Tsewang are among 21 officers awarded the prestigious “Golden Wings” by Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar of Navy.

Current Context : Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) launched the Gen AI platform WisdomNext.

Objective : to remove barriers for customers to develop and launch business solutions, allowing for real-time experimentation across vendor, internal, and open-source large language models.

ABOUT WISDOM NEXT.

• The platform helps companies adopt next-gen technology, lower costs, and operate within a regulatory framework.
• It offers a single interface for enterprise applications to build AI solutions using a host of open and closed-source LLMs with multi-modal capabilities as well as scale them at optimal costs to derive business outcomes.
• The platform also brings in features of software-as-a-service (SaaS), where customers can compare various GenAI models from different vendors, experiment with different models in real-time, and also get the cost parameters.

ABOUT GEN AI

• Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence technology that can produce various types of content, including text, imagery, audio and synthetic data.

Current Context : National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has invited Global Expression of Interest (EOI) from innovative and qualified companies to develop and implement GNSS-based Electronic Toll Collection system in India.

• Objective : To provide seamless and barrier-free tolling experience to National Highway users and enhance efficiency & transparency of toll operations.

ABOUT GNSS-BASED ELECTRONIC TOLL COLLECTION (ETC) SYSTEM:

• It is a barrier-free method of electronic toll collection.
• Working : it uses Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology to track vehicles and calculate tolls based on the distance travelled on tolled highways.
• NHAI plans to implement the GNSS-based electronic toll collection (ETC) system within the existing FASTag ecosystem, initially using a hybrid model where both RFID-based ETC and GNSS-based ETC will operate simultaneously.
• Result in more efficient toll collection as it helps to plug leakages and check toll evaders.

Current Context : SpaceX’s Starship rocket returned from space and achieved a breakthrough landing demonstration in the Indian Ocean.

• Rocket completed a full test mission around the globe in the fourth try.
• Elon Musk’s space company to build a reusable satellite launcher and moon lander.
• The two-stage, rocket system, which stands nearly 400 feet (120-meter) tall, consists of the Starship vessel mounted atop its towering Super Heavy rocket booster.

ABOUT STARSHIP

• SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket, collectively referred to as
• It represents a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.
• Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed.
• Capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes

ADDITIONAL FACTS

• Falcon 9 is also a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond.
• It is the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket.
• Reusability allows SpaceX to refly the most expensive parts of the rocket, which in turn drives down the cost of space access.

ISRO IS ALSO DEVELOPING REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE – TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR (RLV-TD)

OBJECTIVES OF RLV-TD:

• Hypersonic aero thermodynamic characterisation of wing body.
• Evaluation of autonomous Navigation, Guidance and Control (NGC)
• Integrated flight management.
• Thermal Protection System Evaluation.

Current Context : Vellayan Subbiah has won the EY World Entrepreneur of The Year 2024.

• He is the vice-chairman of Tube Investments of India and chairman of Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Co.
• He became the fourth winner from India in the award’s 24-year history.
• Award ceremony was held in Salle des Etoiles, Monaco.

ABOUT AWARD

• EY Entrepreneur of The Year, previously known as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards is an annual award program sponsored by Ernst & Young in recognition of entrepreneurship.
• Founded in 1986 in Milwaukee.

Current Context : The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch a pilot project of Tele MANAS for the armed forces.

ABOUT TELE MANAS

• Tele-MANAS is a part of India’s national tele-mental health programme.
• It was launched in October 2022.
• It offers comprehensive, integrated, and inclusive 24/7 tele-mental health services with a toll-free number 14416.
• The project will address the mental health and well-being of Armed Forces personnel and their families
• Tele MANAS, the digital extension of the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP), currently has 51 operational cells in 36 States and UTs.

Current Context : ISRO announced the joint Indo-French infrared earth observation satellite mission, TRISHNA (Thermal Infra-Red Imaging Satellite for High-Resolution Natural Resource Assessment).

Aim : to monitor surface temperature and water management around the world.

• The mission will study water presence and concentrations, as well as dynamics including melting glaciers, in various parts of the biosphere.
• It will also study aerosols, water vapour, and clouds in the atmosphere around the world.
• It is currently tentatively set to launch in 2025 with an expected lifespan of 5 years.
• The satellite will carry two primary payloads.
• The Thermal Infra-Red (TIR) payload will be provided by the French space agency CNES, It will map the amounts of heat radiated back from land in different regions.
• The Visible Near Infrared-Red Short-Wave Infrared-Red (VNIR-SWIR) payload is being developed by ISRO, and will map over seven bands the reflectivity or albedo of earth’s surface.
• TRISHNA mission will address crucial water and food security challenges, focusing on anthropogenic or human-induced impacts of climate change.

Current Context : India, South Korea, Japan, the US, and the European Union launched an alliance to put joint efforts to build a resilient supply chain in the biopharmaceutical sector.

• It was announced on the inaugural meeting of the Biopharmaceutical Alliance, during the Bio International Convention 2024, the world’s largest biopharmaceutical exhibition.
• It was held in San Diego, California.
• The alliance was launched in response to the drug supply shortages experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

ABOUT BIOPHARMACEUTICALS

• Biopharmaceuticals are a type of medical drug which is produced by using a living being’s organs and tissues, microorganisms, animal fluids, or genetically modified cells and organisms.

It uses biotechnology to produce drugs, which are mainly proteins and nucleic acids (DNA, RNA, or antisense oligonucleotides).

Current Context : Recently, Pakistan, Somalia, Denmark, Greece and Panama were elected as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for a two-year term beginning 2025.

The five members were elected by a secret ballot in the UN General Assembly for a 2-year term starting on January 1, 2025, until December 31, 2026.

ABOUT UN SECURITY COUNCIL

• The UN Security Council is the most important body of the United Nations and it is primarily responsible for maintaining international peace and security.
• The decision of the Security Council is binding on all the members of the United Nations.
• It comprises 15 members, of which 5 are permanent and 10 non-permanent.
• The five permanent bodies of the UN Security Council are the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China.
• The 10 non-permanent members of the UN Security Council are elected for two years and do not have veto power.