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- India’s PU Chitra won gold medal in women’s 1500m by clocking 4 minute 12.65 seconds at Folksam Grand Prix 2019 held in Sollentuna, Sweden. She is a gold medal winner in Asian Championships held in Doha, Qatar in April 2019. Jinson Johnson from India won silver medal in men’s 1500m at Folksam Grand Prix by clocking 3:39.69. Organised every year in Sweden, Folksam Grand Prix is a series of international athletics meetings created in 2009.
- Four districts each in Karnataka and Maharashtra jointly received the GI tag for making Kolhapuris, the sturdy ethnic leather chappal (footwear). These chappals are hand-crafted and tanned using vegetable dyes. With GI tag now the local artisans get legal support and anyone who is going to copy this can be punished. The 1st product to get a GI tag in India was Darjeeling tea (2004). The sui generis Act for protection of GI in India is Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 (GI Act).
- The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC), in cooperation with its India Focal Point, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), began its 12th Capacity Building Workshop from 19 to 21 June 2019, in New Delhi, India. In two-day capacity building workshop 31 International delegates are participating. Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) was entered into force on 4 September 2006 and on 29 November 2006 ReCAAP ISC was established in Singapore.
- The World Sickle Cell Day is globally observed every year on 19 June, to raise public awareness about the sickle cell disease and its treatment method. The Sickle cell disease is an inherited genetic abnormality of haemoglobin due to which red blood cells (RBCs) causes stuck in small blood vessels and are unable to carry adequate amount of oxygen throughout body. The day was 1st recognized by United Nations General Assembly (63rd session) in 2008 and the day was celebrated for the first time on 19 June, 2009.
- Sri Lanka’s first ever satellite ‘Raavana-1’, designed and developed by two Sri Lankan engineers, was successfully launched from International Space Station (ISS) along with two other BIRDS 3 satellites from Japan and Nepal. The satellite was officially handed over to JAXA (Japanese Aerospace and Exploration Agency) on February 18 and was sent to ISS on April 17, through assistance of Cygnus-1 spacecraft from United States.
IIT-Bombay - In QS World University Rankings’ 2020, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-Bombay), is the best-ranked Indian institute globally at 152nd position. It has been securing top position among all Indian institutes for past 3 years and in this edition it has improved its rank by 10 places from 2018 ranking. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created a history by topping QS World University Rankings for 8th consecutive year. The ranking was launched in 2004 by London-based QS Group in collaboration with Times Higher Education, but the two parted ways in 2010.
- India has for the first time extended $15 Million financial support to Niger which is organising African Union (AU) summit for the first time from 7-8 July 2019 in Niamey (Capital of Niger). The support was in response to a specific request by Niger government. AU summit is also expected to launch historic African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Today’s Quiz
