Current Context: According to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), India-Japan partnership for their joint moon mission, Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX), is likely to take flight in few Years.

• It is a first attempt of JAXA to send a large rover to the moon.
• OBJECTIVE : to explore the lunar surface and search for subsurface water on the moon.
• Also investigate its quantity, distribution on the lunar surface and below ground, and form, such as the level of mixing with dry regolith, the layer of loose unconsolidated rock and dust that sits atop a layer of bedrock.
• JAXA has the other objective to demonstrate exploration technology for activities on the surface of a gravitational body.
• In Joint Mission ISRO is responsible for developing the lander, and JAXA is responsible for procuring the rover and launch vehicle.

Current Context : NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) polar mission is set to be launched from New Zealand on May 22.

• NASA’s tiny twin satellites as part of the PREFIRE polar mission will be launch first.
• The second CubeSat is targeting a launch two weeks after the first launch.
• It is equipped with technology proven on Mars, and will measure a “little-studied portion” of the radiant energy emitted by Earth.
• Objective : to reveal the full spectrum of heat loss from Earth’s polar regions for the first time, making climate models more accurate.
• Understand why the Arctic has warmed more than 2½ times faster than the rest of the planet since the 1970s.
• The data from the mission will help to improve our understanding of the greenhouse effect at the poles — specifically, the capacity of water vapor, clouds, and other elements of Earth’s atmosphere to trap heat and keep it from radiating into space.

Current Context : Indian football icon and captain of the national team Sunil Chhetri announced his decision to retire from international football after the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Kuwait on June 6.

Sunil Chettri’s Football Carrer

• The 39-year-old striker made his international debut against Pakistan on 12th June 2005 and scored his first goal for India in the same match.
• He boasts an impressive record, standing third among currently active players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo by securing 94 international goals in 150 matches.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

• He has achieved six AIFF Player of the Year awards, the Arjuna Award in 2011, and the Padma Shri in 2019.
• He has been part of the title-winning Indian teams in the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008, the SAFF Championship in 2011 and 2015, the Nehru Cup in 2007, 2009 and 2012, as well as the Intercontinental Cup in 2017 and 2018.

Current Context : Indian table tennis player Manika Batra became the first singles player from country to break into the top 25 of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings.

• This is the first time ever that an Indian paddler has broken into the top 25 in singles rankings.
• About : Manika Batra is an Indian table tennis player.
• She is the top female table tennis player in India and ranks world number 24 in ITTF as of May 2024.

ACHIEVEMENTS :

• She was honoured with India’s highest sports honour– Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2020.
• She was awarded India’s second highest sport award-Arjuna award in 2018.
• She is the only Indian table tennis player to receive ITTF’s ‘Breakthrough Star’ Award in 2018.

Current Context : “Sultana’s Dream” by Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was recently added to UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” list.

• The 10th General Meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Culture of Mongolia, the Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO, and the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok.
• Sultana’s Dream, the utopian novel of a world without men written by Bengali author Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain in 1905.

ABOUT BEGUM ROKEYA SAKHAWAT HOSSAIN :

• Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was a prominent Bengali feminist thinker, writer, educator and political activist from British India.
• She is widely regarded as a pioneer of women’s liberation in India and Bangladesh.
• She founded the Muslim Women’s Association for women’s education and employment In 1916.

ABOUT  UNESCO’S MEMORY OF THE WORLD PROGRAMME :

• The Memory of the World Programme is an international programme aimed at safeguarding, preserving and facilitating access to and the use of documentary heritage.
• UNESCO launched the Program in 1992.
• It includes the inscription of significant documentary heritage on national, regional and international registers.
• Recently, Indian texts Ramcharitmanas, Panchatantra and Sahṛdayaloka-Locana were also included in ‘UNESCO’s Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register’.

Current Context : The 2nd edition of India – Australia – Indonesia Trilateral Maritime Security Workshop (TMSW) was conducted at INS Dronacharya, Kochi, India.

• Theme of the workshop was ‘Indian Ocean Region: Collaborative Efforts to Enhance Regional Maritime Security’.
• OBJECTIVE: was chosen to discuss ongoing maritime security challenges and opportunities for collaboration between the three maritime neighbours in the region.
• Discussions were also focused on canvassing present day opportunities and challenges in the IOR, including Information Exchange mechanisms and capabilities of Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean region (IFC-IOR), Maritime Domain Awareness, non-traditional and illicit maritime activities, Maritime Law enforcement, capability enhancement and capacity building, avenues for enhancing interoperability and cooperation.

Current Context : The 12th Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting between the Defence Ministries of India and Mongolia took place in Ulaanbaatar on May 16-17, 2024.

• Aim : To bolster bilateral defence ties between both nations.
• Both nation reviewed the progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives and identified means to further enhance cooperation in these areas, articulating steps in this direction.
• They also exchanged views on the current geopolitical situation.

INDIA – MONGOLIA RELATIONS :

• India enjoys old historical, cultural and civilisational ties with Mongolia.
• Both countries regard each other as ‘Spiritual Neighbours’.
• In the modern times, values like democracy, freedom and market economy hold the two nations closer.

Current Context : An inaugural Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa was held in Paris.

• Aim : to provide clean cooking options for the more than 1 billion people in Africa who currently rely on fuels such as charcoal and wood.
• Using fuels such as agricultural waste and animal dung in this way is the second-biggest cause of premature death in Africa, mostly of sub-Saharan women and children.
• Summit was co-chair by the International Energy Agency.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY (IEA) :

• It is an autonomous inter-governmental organisation within the OECD framework.
• Established in 1974 to ensure the security of oil supplies.
• Headquarter – Paris (France).
• Aim : shape a secure and sustainable energy future for all.
• IEA consists of 31 member countries and 11 association countries.
• India joined in 2017 as an Associate member.

Current Context : The second India-US dialogue on Africa was held in Washington DC.

• OBJECTIVE: to discuss ideas and perspectives on ways to develop institutional, technical, and bilateral synergies in Africa.
• Aims to explore ways to collaborate on projects and programmes of cooperation in Africa by leveraging the strengths of India and the US.
• The first such dialogue on Africa took place between the two countries after the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 during India’s G20 presidency in September 2023.

Ankesh Chaudhary, an athlete from Pathiar village in Kangra district, has won the 800-m gold in Senior National Federation Cup, held in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.

 Achievements :

• In 2017 he won a bronze in Junior Nationals and a gold in North Zone Nationals.
• He got recruited in the Army as Havildar in 2019 under the special sports quota.
• In 2021, he won gold in B group race in World Athletics Continental Tour in Manchester, England.
• In 2022 he won bronze medal in 32nd National Games in Gujarat.