Shooter Jitu Rai on 25 June 2016 won silver in the 10 m Air Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
•    It is the second medal in a World Cup this season for Rai, who had won the free pistol gold in the first World Cup in Bangkok.
•    Brazilian shooter Felipe Almeida Wu won the gold medal, while Korea’s Jin Jongoh bagged the bronze medal.
•    Jitu Rai is an Indian shooter of Nepalese origin.
•    He competes in the 10 metre air pistol and 50 metre pistol events.
•    In 2014, he won the silver medal in the 10 metre air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Munich.
•    He won two medals, a silver in the 50 metre pistol event and a gold in the 10 metre air pistol event, in Maribor.
•    He became the first person to have won two medals at a single world cup for India.
•    He was ranked number 1 in the world, in 10 metre air pistol and number 4, in 50 metre pistol, in July 2014.
•    In the 2014 Asian Games held at Incheon in South Korea, he won the gold medal in the 50 m pistol category. He also won a bronze in the men's 10 m air pistol team event.
•    The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986.
•    It was introduced to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions.
•    It is still carried out in the Olympic shooting events, with four competitions per year in each event.

Lionel Messi, the Barcelona star, on 26 June 2016 announced his plans to retirement from international football.
•    The announcement from the foot balling great of his generation came just hours after he missed the penalty in the Copa America final. His team, Argentina, faced a defeat from Chile in Copa America final at New Jersey in the US.
•    Argentina lost 4-2 on penalties to Chile after a 0-0 draw in MetLife Stadium.
•    The 29-year-old has played four finals for his Argentina that includes the 2014 World Cup final and three Copa America finals.
•    He made his senior international debut in 2005, is his country's all-time top scorer, with 55 goals from 113 appearances.
•    An Argentine professional footballer plays as a forward for Spanish club Barcelona.
•    He is the only footballer in the history to win five FIFA Ballons d'Or, four of which he won consecutively
•    He is the first player to win three European Golden Shoes.
•    With Barcelona he has won eight La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles, as well as four Copas del Rey.
•    His major honour with Argentina is the 2008 Olympic gold.
•    Messi is the winner of four Champions League titles and eight Spanish La Liga crowns with Barcelona.

Harmanpreet Kaur has become the first Indian Women's cricketer to be signed by an overseas Twenty20 franchise, inking a deal with Sydney Thunder.
•    The signing was confirmed by BCCI president Anurag Thakur on Friday, the final day of the Indian board's working committee meeting in Dharamsala. 
•    The move is significant as it is the first official signing since the BCCI cleared the women players to participate in overseas leagues earlier this month.
•    It is understood that Harmanpreet, an allrounder and India's vice-captain, received an offer from three teams - including the Sydney Sixers, the runners-up in the inaugural season - before zeroing in on the Thunder
•    Blackwell's comments came after India recorded their first-ever bilateral series win in Australia, beating the then champions 2-1 in the T20 series ahead of the World T20. 
•    Harmanpreet contributed a 31-ball 46 in a historic chase in the series opener. She was a standout performer in a disappointing World T20 campaign for India, scoring 89 runs and taking seven wickets in four outings.
•    India captain Mithali Raj and fast bowler Jhulan Goswami were approached by the Adelaide Strikers for the inaugural edition of the tournament last year, but had to turn down the offer after the BCCI refused to grant permission.

Former Spinner Anil Kumble was appointed as the head coach of Indian Cricket Team on 23 June 2016. He will hold this position for one year.
•    Kumble’s first assignment will be the upcoming away series in the West Indies, where India will play four Test matches.
•    The decision of his selection was taken in the BCCI working committee meeting in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh by the Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Saurav Ganguly and Sanjay Jagdale, the Chief Co-Coordinator.
•    Forty-five year old Anil Kumble was among 57 candidates who applied for the position advertised by the BCCI in May 2016.
•    He is only the second bowler in Test cricket to take 10 wickets in an innings. He achieved the fete in a match against Pakistan in Delhi in 1999.
•    The 45-year-old leg-spinner has mentored Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians.
•    He has been the chairman of the National Cricket Academy and BCCI’s Technical Committee.
•    His international cricket career spans 18years.
•    Overall, Kumble has to his name in first class cricket.
•    He was awarded Padma Shri and also received Arjuna Award.
•    He was Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1996.
•    He was appointed Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee in 2012, a position he still holds.
•    He was also included into the Great Hall of Fame in 2015.

Nico Rosberg of Germany on 19 June 2016 won the European Grand Prix Formula 1 championship in Baku, Azerbaijan.
•    To win the title, the Mercedes driver overcame Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany in the final race.
•    In this championship, Rosberg completed second career Grand Slam. Prior to him, only Lewis Hamilton, Mika Hakkinen, Jack Brabham and Juan Manuel Fangio could able to achieve this rare feat.
•    He recorded the first career Grand Slam in Russian Grand Prix in May 2016. Grand Slam in Formula One racing denotes winning a race from pole while leading every lap and scoring the fastest lap.
•    For Rosberg, it was the first European title and the 5th title in 2016 season as he stood as the champion in Austria, Bahrain, China and Russia also.
•    Overall, it was the 19th title since the beginning of his career in 2006.
•    The Formula 1 event was introduced during the mid-1980s. It was held regularly between 1999 and 2012.
•    The race was removed from the calendar in 2013. In 2016, the race returned, being run on a street circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan.
•    In earlier years, the European Grand Prix was not a race in its own right but just an honorific title.
•    The first race to be so named was the 1923 Italian Grand Prix, held at Monza and won by Carlo Salamano in a Fiat and the last one was the 1977 British Grand Prix.
•    Since its reintroduction, the European Grand Prix has usually been held in a country in Europe that also holds a national Grand Prix in that same year.

International Cricket Council (ICC) on 19 June 2016 suspended Sri Lanka’s fast bowler Shaminda Eranga from bowling. He was suspended after an assessment of his bowling action.
•    The assessment revealed that all deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations.
•    The test was performed on 6 June 20156 at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough, which is an ICC accredited testing centre.
•    Eranga, who has played 41 times for Sri Lanka across all three formats, was reported after the second Test against England at Chester-le-Street on 31 May 2016.
•    In accordance with Article 6.1 of the regulations, Eranga’s international suspension will also be recognized and enforced by all National Cricket Federations for domestic cricket events played in their own jurisdiction. But he can play domestic cricket in Sri Lanka, with the consent of the country's cricket board.
•    He can also apply for a re-assessment after modifying his bowling action in accordance with clause 2.4 of the Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions.

Australia on 18 June 2016 won Hero Hockey Champions Trophy 2016 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London. It defeated India 1-0 in a shoot-out.
•    The game finished with the score locked at 0-0 but later Australia scored a goal in the shoot-out reducing the score to 1-0 and won the final match to win the Gold medal. 
•    Australia’s Blake Govers missed a penalty stroke, while India was dominant in the third and fourth quarter before losing the shoot-out.
•    With this victory, Australia claimed the Champions Trophy title for the 14th time.
•    Germany defeated Great Britain to win the bronze medal.
1: Australia
2: India
3: Germany
4: Great Britain
5: Belgium
6: Korea
•Best player: Tobias Hauke (Germany)
•Best junior player: Harmanpreet Singh (India)
•Best goalkeeper: George Pinner (Great Britain)
•Top scorer: Marco Miltkau (Germany)

The Indian mixed recurve team of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das on 19 June 2016 won silver at the Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey.
•    In the final clash at Konyaalti Beach Park, the Indian team lost to South Korea 1-5.
•    Indian team trailed 0-2 in the first set against the top-seed Korean pair of Choi Misun and Ku Bonchan and went down 1-5 in the final.
•    The Sixth seeded Indian duo reached final after beating second-seeded pair of Mauro Nespoli Guendalina Sartori 5-1 in straight sets in the semi-finals.
•    Earlier, the women's recurve team of Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi Laishram and Laxmirani Majhi also went down in the bronze medal clash to Italy 1-5.

The Rio 2016 organizing committee on 14 June 2016 revealed the official slogan, A New World, for the first Olympic and Paralympic Games in South America.
•    The slogan was unveiled by Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), at a special ceremony held at Olympic Park in Barra da Tijuca, Brazil.
•    Besides, the organising committee also unveiled the designs for the 2488 gold, silver and bronze medals that ten thousand athletes will soon be competing for.
•    A new world will be the front and center message that will be transmitted around the world in the lead-up to and during the 2016 Games.
•    The slogan was chosen to show the desire of Rio 2016 for a better world.
•    The creation of a slogan is a tradition of each Olympic Games. Previous Olympic mottos included Welcome home for Athens in 2004, One world, one dream for Beijing in 2008, and Inspire a Generation for London in 2012.

India on 16 June 2016 won the three-match One Day International (ODI) series against Zimbabwe 3-0.
In the third and final match played at Harare, India defeated Zimbabwe by 10 wickets.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Zimbabwe was bundled out for 124 runs in 42.2 over. In the second innings of the match, India chased the paltry target of 125 in 21.5 at the loss of no wicket.
•    1st Match: It was played at Hazare sports club, Harare, Zimbabwe on 11 June 2016. India defeated Zimbabwe by nine wickets. Lokesh Rahul was adjudged as the Man of the Match.
•    2nd Match: It was played at Hazare sports club, Harare, Zimbabwe on 13 June 2016. India defeated Zimbabwe by eightwickets. Yazvendra Chahl was adjudged as the Man of the Match.
•    3rd Match: It was played at Hazare sports club, Harare, Zimbabwe on 15 June 2016. India defeated Zimbabwe by ten wickets. Lokesh Rahul was adjudged as the Man of the Match.
With this win, India got it’s a third successive series clean-sweep in Zimbabwe after the triumphs in 2013 and 2015. The ODI series will be followed by 3 Twenty-20 matches that will begin on 18 June 2016.