A team of teachers and students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Dharwad, led by Sudheer Siddapureddy and Ameer Mulla, has developed a fire rescue assistant drone.

• The project was completed with funding from TiHAN Foundation, IIT Hyderabad (NMICPS, Government of India).
• The unveiling and demonstration of the fire rescue assistant drone was held during the two-day workshop on Drone Design and Autonomous Navigation in Fire Rescue (DDANFR 2024) held at IIT Dharwad on May 31 and June 1.
• The event was organised by the Fire and Thermal Research Laboratory (FTRL) and the Control Systems and Robotics Laboratory. The fire rescue assistant drone is said to be the first of its kind.
• Elaborating on the new fire rescue assistant drone, Prof. Siddapureddy, who is faculty in-charge at FTRL, said that it was challenging to design a drone small enough to navigate indoor spaces and capable of withstanding high temperatures.

The veteran writer Siddalinga Pattanashetti has been selected for the prestigious Gudleppa Hallikeri Award for 2024. Veeranna Chekki, senior trustee of the Gudleppa Hallikeri Memorial Foundation of Hosaritti in Haveri district, announced this at a press meet.

• He said this is the 19th award and will be presented in honour of the birth anniversary of Gudleppa Hallikeri on June 6.
• Chekki, who is also the secretary for the National Education Society of Hosaritti, said they have also set up a photo museum of freedom fighter Gudleppa Hallikeri at the Gandhi Grameen Gurukul, which is famous for traditional education along with the state board.
• More than 300 photographs of Gudleppa Hallikeri, secured by the famous photographer Shashi Sali, will be displayed in this museum.

The Maldives says it will ban Israelis from entering the country, known for its luxury resorts, with the office of the president making the announcement as public anger rises over the war in Gaza.

• The Maldives president, Mohamed Muizzu, has “resolved to impose a ban on Israeli passports”, a spokesperson for his office said in a statement, without giving details of when the new law would take effect.
• The country is visited by thousands of Israelis every year.
• In response, Israel’s foreign ministry recommended that its citizens not travel to the Maldives, including those with dual citizenship.

• The move could pave the way for petroleum products to come under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• At present, Central Excise is levied mainly on petroleum products. As a part of the pre-legislative consultative process, CBIC has sought stakeholders’ comments by June 26. 
• The bill indicates the government’s intention to revisit the provisions of the existing Central Excise Act while also working on consensus for introducing GST on all products, including petroleum products, which are still not covered under the GST ambit, said Gunjan Prabhakaran, Partner & Leader, Indirect Tax, BDO India   
• The Bill comprises twelve chapters, 114 (one hundred and fourteen) sections and two schedules.

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.

• Tele-MANAS, part of India's national tele-mental health programme, was launched in October 2022.
• It offers comprehensive, integrated, and inclusive 24/7 tele-mental health services with a toll-free number 14416.
• The MoU seeks the collaboration of the two ministries to establish a pilot project for operating a special cell at the Armed Forces Medical College in Pune for two years.
• The special cell was inaugurated on December 1, last year.

Sushil Kumar Singh, an Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering (IRSME) officer of the 1993 batch, has been named the Chairperson of Deendayal Port Authority.

He takes over from SK Mehta, who completed a five-year term in April. Singh’s appointment, effective until 31 January 2027 or until further orders, was issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). 

The ACC order also mentioned procedures for officers on election-related duties.

Singh, previously a joint secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, oversaw various initiatives including port modernization, automation, and public-private-partnerships (PPP) in major ports.

He contributed to policy and technology implementations enhancing Ease of Doing Business and supply chain visibility. In his tenure with the Indian Railways, 

South Korea took steps to suspend a contentious military agreement with North Korea and resume frontline military activities, as tensions between the rivals are rising over the North's recent launch of trash-carrying balloons. 

• North Korea didn't immediately respond, but South Korea's resumption of firing exercises or propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts will likely prompt North Korea to take similar or stronger steps along the rivals' tense border. 
• In the past week, North Korea had used balloons to drop manure, cigarette butts, scraps of cloth and waste paper on South Korea, prompting Seoul to vow “unbearable” retaliation.
• The military agreement — reached during a short-lived era of reconciliation between the Koreas — required the two countries to cease all hostile acts at border areas, such as live firing drills, aerial drills and psychological warfare.

Krishna Prakash, renowned as the head of Mumbai Police’s elite counter-terrorism unit, Force One, has been honored with the prestigious Annual Hindi Sahitya Bharati Award.

The recognition was bestowed during the Sab Me Ram Shashwat Shri Ram multicultural festival in Mumbai. 

At the festival, which featured a confluence of music, literature, dance, and theatre, Krishna Prakash shared his insights with the youth, emphasizing the “strength of steel” he derives from Lord Ram’s life and teachings.

The event aimed to narrate Lord Ram’s story through various artistic forms, offering a unique cultural experience.

On 5 June, we celebrate World Environment Day. Established by the United Nations in 1972, it is the largest international environmental event with millions of people participating worldwide.

It has evolved into a prominent global platform for promoting environmental awareness.

The EU has placed the environment at the forefront of its agenda with EU policies designed to protect the environment and biodiversity, safeguard human health, and promote the transition to a circular economy.

In 2019, the Commission introduced the European Green Deal, a comprehensive strategy aiming to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050. 

This year, World Environment Day (WED) 2024 focuses on land restoration, halting desertification and building drought resilience under the slogan “Our land. Our future. We are #GenerationRestoration.” 

Indian delegation, led by Secretary, Department of Commerce, Shri Sunil Barthwal participated in the inaugural Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Clean Economy Investor Forum in Singapore.

The Forum brought together the region’s top investors, clean economy companies, and start-ups to mobilise investments into sustainable infrastructure, climate technology, and renewable energy projects.

• Commerce Secretary Shri Barthwal acknowledged the forum as a unique platform that brought global investors, project proponents, policy makers, academia, etc., under one roof which would be instrumental in advancing sustainable infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific Region.
• Shri Barthwal while addressing the investor forum under IPEF underlined the huge investment opportunities that India offers of more than USD 500 billion, particularly in clean energy value chain including renewables, green hydrogen and EV and its infrastructure transition, by 2030.
• Shri Barthwal also highlighted key reforms around ease of doing business in India to improve business environment over the last decade.

In the latest edition of the QS World University Ranking released recently, 61 per cent of Indian universities’ ranking has improved, with IIT Bombay gaining the top spot in India.

• Globally, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) retained the ‘best institute in the world’ position for the 13th time this year.
• This year, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) has climbed from 149 in 2024 to 118 in the 2025 rankings, that is, a climb of 31 ranks.
•  IIT Bombay is followed by IIT Delhi and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru with the two institutes ranked second and third in India, respectively.
• IIT Delhi climbed 47 ranks (from 197 last year to 150 this time), IISc jumped from 225 to 211 (14 ranks).

India all-rounder Kedar Jadhav announced retirement from all forms of cricket.

• The 39-year-old took to social media to announce his decision, sharing a slideshow of photos from his career with a Kishore Kumar song “Zindagi Ke Safar Mein” playing in the background.
• Jadhav made his ODI debut for India on November 16, 2014 against Sri Lanka and played his first T20I against Zimbabwe on July 17, 2015.
• The batting all-rounder, who was a part of 2019 World Cup, scored 1389 runs and picked 27 in 73 ODIs. He played 9 T20Is, scoring 122 runs with the highest score of 58. 

NDA has secured absolute majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by winning 292 seats. Results of all 543 Lok Sabha seats have been declared. The BJP alone has won 240 seats. Telugu Desam has secured 16 seats and JD(U) 12.

• The I.N.D.I.A bloc has bagged 233 seats.
• Others have won 18 seats in the lower house of Parliament.
• The Congress secured 99 seats.
• Samajwadi Party got 37 seats while Trinamool Congress 29. DMK managed to win 22 seats.  

Halla Tomasdottir, a businesswoman and investor, has become the new president of Iceland after winning the Nordic nation island’s presidential election, emerging atop a crowded field of candidates in which the top three finishers were women.

• Tomasdottir defeated former Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir after winning 34.3 per cent of the vote, according to local reports. 
• Tomasdottir, 55, campaigned above party politics and could help open discussions on fundamental issues such as the effect of social media on the mental health of young people, Iceland’s development as a tourist destination and the role of artificial intelligence.
• She will replace President Gudni Th. Johannesson, who did not seek re-election after two four-year terms. Tomasdottir will take office on August 1.

Indian athlete DP Manu clinched the gold medal in the men’s javelin throw event at the Taiwan Athletics Open 2024 tournament in Chinese Taipei on Saturday.

• An Asian Athletics Championships silver medallist, DP Manu recorded a distance of 81.58m on his last attempt in the javelin throw final to take the top spot on the podium.
• Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Chao-tsun, who holds the Asian record of 91.36m, won the silver with a best effort of 76.21m while his compatriot Huang Chao-hung settled for bronze with 71.24m.
• The Taiwan Athletics Open is a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze-level meet.

The Trishakti Corps of the Indian Army celebrated World Environment Day with numerous “Go Green Initiatives” in North Bengal and Sikkim.

• A key highlight was the inauguration of a plastic waste management and recycling plant in Changgu, East Sikkim.
• This project, part of the Army’s Sadbhavana initiative, aims to improve waste management, promote sustainability, and benefit the local economy.
• The plant will transform plastic waste into materials for road construction and bricks, reducing pollution and landfill burden.