Daily Current Affairs, 19th April 2019

1) Gagandeep Kang Becomes First Indian Female FRS

•Professor Gagandeep Kang has become the first Indian female scientist to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in the UK fellowship’s 358-year-history.

•The 56-year-old is the Executive Director of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute at Faridabad. Other notable FRS inducted in 2019 include Fields Medal-winning mathematicians Akshay Venkatesh and Manjul Bhargava.

2) Sri Lanka’s 1st Satellite ‘Raavana-1’ Launched Into Space

•Sri Lanka’s first satellite ‘Raavana-1’ was launched into space from NASA’s Flight Facility on Virginia’s east shore. ‘Raavana 1’ weights around 1.05 kg and the lifespan of the satellite is around one and a half years.

•The satellite was designed and built at the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan by two Sri Lankan research engineers. Its camera mission is to capture images of Sri Lanka and its neighbouring countries.

3) Indian Peacekeepers Awarded UN Medal of Honour

•A total of 150 Indian peacekeepers serving with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) have received medals of honour for their dedicated service and sacrifice.

•Under the UNMISS, the Indian Horizontal Mobility Engineering Company had completed the renovation of 145 km of roadway connecting Bentiu and Leer in South Sudan, easing the way for the delivery humanitarian aid, trade, and inter-communal dialogue.

4) Christina Koch To Set Record For Longest Spaceflight By A Woman

•NASA astronaut Christina Koch is going to have her mission on the International Space Station (ISS) extended to 328 days, which would set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.

•Koch, who arrived at the space station on March 14 is scheduled to remain in orbit until February 2020, will eclipse the record of 288 days set by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in 2016-17.

5) India Ranks 140th In World Press Freedom Index 2019, Norway Topped

•India ranked 140th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index 2019, released by Reporters Without Borders. The index is topped by Norway. Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), or Reporters Without Borders, is a non-profit organisation that works to document and combat attacks on journalists around the world.

6) Bajrang Regains Top Spot In World Wrestling Rankings

•India’s Bajrang Punia has regained the world number one spot in the men’s 65-kilogramfreestyle category rankings. The rankings were released by United World Wrestling.

•Punia, who won Gold in the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games as well as a silver in the World Championships in 2018, secured 58 points ahead of Akhmed Chakaev of Russia