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By admin: May 30, 2024

Praggnanandhaa Beats Carlsen, and leads Norway Chess 2024

Tags: Sports

Praggnanandhaa defeated Magnus Carlsen in a classical chess event for the first time.

An Overview of the News

• The match took place during the 3rd round of Norway Chess 2024.

• Praggnanandhaa, an 18-year-old Indian chess prodigy, played with the White pieces.

• He gained an early advantage in the game and converted it into a victory.

• With this win, Praggnanandhaa now leads the tournament with 5.5 points.

Norway Chess:

• It is an annual closed chess tournament, typically held between May and June each year.

• The inaugural edition of the tournament occurred in the Stavanger area, Norway, from May 7 to May 18, 2013.

• The 2013 tournament featured ten participants, including seven of the top ten highest-rated players in the world according to the May 2013 FIDE World Rankings.

• Sergey Karjakin emerged as the winner of the 2013 edition, while Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura shared the second-place position.

• Norway Chess 2015 took place in mid-June 2015 and was included in the inaugural Grand Chess Tour.

• Subsequently, the tournament opted to withdraw from the Grand Chess Tour.

Commemoration of the 76th International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers

Tags: Defence

The Indian Army commemorated the 76th International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on May 29th.

An Overview of the News

• A homage ceremony was held at the National War Memorial in New Delhi.

• Lieutenant General Rakesh Kapoor, Deputy Chief of the Army Staff, along with officials from the United Nations, the Ministry of Defence, and the Ministry of External Affairs, laid wreaths to mark the occasion.

Historical Significance

• This day celebrates the first UN Peacekeeping Mission, the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO), which began in Palestine in 1948.

• Tributes are paid globally to the dedication and courage of UN Peacekeepers, honouring those who sacrifice for peace.

India's Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

• India is a major contributor to UN Peacekeeping, having provided around 287,000 troops to various missions.

• 160 Indian soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice in UN Peacekeeping missions.

Training and Deployment

• The Centre for UN Peacekeeping in New Delhi trains over 12,000 troops annually and shares best practices internationally.

• Currently, Indian forces are deployed in nine countries.

DRDO Successfully Flight-Tests RudraM-II Missile from Su-30 MK-I Platform

Tags: Defence Science and Technology

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested the RudraM-II air-to-surface missile.

An Overview of the News

• The test was conducted from the Su-30 MK-I platform of the Indian Air Force in Odisha.

• The Defence Ministry announced that the flight test met all the trial objectives.

RudraM-II Missile System

• RudraM-II is an indigenously developed, solid-propelled, air-launched missile system.

• The missile system incorporates a number of state-of-the-art indigenous technologies developed by various DRDO laboratories.

About DRDO

• It is an agency under the Department of Defense Research and Development.

• It works under the Ministry of Defense of the Government of India.

• DRDO is responsible for military research and development.

  • Established:- 1958

  • Chairman:- Sameer V. Kamat

  • Headquarters:- DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi

  • Aircraft Design:- DRDO Nishant, DRDO Lakshya, Avatar