Air Marshal Pradhan takes over as Deputy Chief of Integrated

• Air Marshal PN Pradhan today took over as Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations), a key platform to ensure a high degree of synergy between the armed forces.
• Pradhan has held several key positions including Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Transport and Helicopters) at Air Headquarters and Senior Air Staff Officer at the Southern Air Command.
• He was closely associated with the induction and operationalisation of Embraer-135 and C-130 fleets in the IAF.
• For his distinguished service, Pradhan was awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2014.
• Integrated Defence Staff was created in 2001 based on the recommendations of a Group of Ministers which were set up after the Kargil war to review India’s defence management.

Indian men’s team wins Compound gold in World Cup archery

• The Indian men’s compound team struck gold on the penultimate day of the archery World Cup stage 1 championship in Shanghai, China on Saturday. The women’s team, however, did not finish on the podium.
• India were represented by Abhishek Verma, Chinna Raju Srither and Amanjeet Singh.
• India beat Colombia 226-221 for the gold. In the semifinal, India got the better of the United States 232-230 while India edge out Iran by an identical margin the quarterfinals. India beat Vietnam in the first round.
• The Colombian team comprised Camilo Andres Cardona, Jose Carlos Ospina and Daniel Munoz.
• The Indians grabbed a slender lead in the opening set by clinching it 58-57 and built on it in the next three to emerge triumphant. The Colombians did manage to tie the 3rd set 52-52.
• In the women’s competition, Korea, Denmark and Russia finished in that order.

Iran election: Hassan Rouhani wins second term as president

• Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has been re-elected with an emphatic victory, official results show.
• Out of more than 40 million votes cast, he received 57%, defeating his main rival, a conservative cleric.
• Mr Rouhani, a moderate who agreed a deal with world powers to limit Iran’s nuclear programme, pledged to “remain true” to his promises.
• The decisive victory gives him a strong mandate to seek reforms and revive Iran’s ailing economy, analysts say.
• The president received close to 23 million votes, Interior Minister Abdul Reza Rahmani Fazli said on state television, in an election that had an unexpectedly high turnout of about 70%.

Indian boy wins top Intel science award in US

• An Indian boy has won the world’s largest pre-college science competition in the US in the environmental engineering category for his project on biodegradation of pesticides.
• Prashant Ranganathan, a 12th grader from Jamshedpur, alongwith over 20 high school students from various parts of India, participated in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
• Four Indian-Americans received top awards in various categories.
• In all, more than 1700 students from across the world participated in the week-long event which concluded here yesterday.
• Student of Carmel Junior College in Jamshedpur, Prashant’s project ‘Biodegradation of Chlorpyrifos using native bacteria’ said that farmers should not use pesticides.
• Prashant who bagged the coveted award for his innovation for fighting against pesticide and getting rid of its side effects through biodegradable use.