Iran exported 519,790 tons of watermelon worth $95.46 million during the first three months of the current Iranian year (March 21-June 21), Financial Tribune’s data analysis based on the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration’s latest report indicates.

Iraq, the UAE, Afghanistan, Turkey, Russia, Qatar and Oman were the biggest customers of Iranian watermelons during the period under review.  / Financial tribune  /

The National Iranian junior Greco-Roman wrestling team won the title today at the Asian Championships with 6 gold, 3 silver and one bronze medals.

Asian Championships was held in New Delhi, India on July 17-18.

At the end of the competitions, Iranian representatives Pouya Naserpour, Bahram Marouf Khani, Amin Kavianinejad, Hossein Forouzandeh, Mohammad Hadi Saroey and Amin Mirzazadeh at 55, 63, 72, 82, 87 and 130 kilograms, respectively, snatched 6 gold medals, while Ali Reza Nejati, Shayan Afifi and Vahid Dadkhah won the 3 silver medals at the 60, 77 and 97 kg categories, respectively.

Meanwhile, Sajjad Iman Talab collected Iran’s only bronze medal at 67kg.

The Iranian young wrestlers were crowned with 225 points, followed by national teams of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan with 147 and 135 points, respectively./ Mehr news /

A food festival is scheduled to be held in parallel with a tourism exhibition in early September in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province, to explore gastronomic delights of the religious tourism hub.

“Mashhad’s international fairgrounds will host the festival from September 2 to 6, alongside an international exhibition of tourism and related industries,” Yousef Bidkhori, a deputy head of the provincial office of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, said.

“The festival aims, among other things, to promote the restaurants that serve local cuisine, typically a distinguished feature of popular tourist cities, as well as the Iranian culinary culture and traditional dishes, as the most exotic Iranian products,” he was quoted by CHTN as saying on Monday.

It is intended as a platform to display and introduce the local cuisine, food souvenirs and the products of domestic food companies and will also feature food-related rituals, expert debates and cooking contests, the tourism official said. / Financial tribune /

According to the latest report of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for ranking countries in the global indicator of innovation, Islamic Republic of Iran moved up 10 steps in 2018.

Accordingly, Islamic Republic of Iran upgraded its rank from 75 in 2017 to 65 in 2018, showing a considerable hike.

The report put Iran’s ranking in the global indicator of innovation in 2015 at 106.

The global indicator of innovation is the name of a report that is released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) every year.

The country owes its considerable growth to various dimensions such as outputs of knowledge, technology and creativity.

Undoubtedly, ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship and also development of active startups in various economic sectors have had salient and outstanding role in promoting considerable growth of country in this sector.

It is interesting to know that Iran’s ranking in Innovation Efficiency Ratio has hit from 56 in 2017 to 11 in 2018, showing a significant jump.

Moreover, Iran stood at 16th rank among 34 countries in the world in terms of upper-middle-income countries. / Mehr news /

Iranian short firms will be screened in 11th International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala.On the sidelines of organizing 11th edition of International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala, the International Film Festival of Kerala will screen 18 Iranian short films.

At the initiative taken by Fidan Film Complex, the 11th edition of the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala in India will put its spotlight on short films from Iranian cinema in a program titled “Persian Tales” in Short Fiction Section from Iran.

Amir Masoud Soheili and Hadi Alipanah have undertaken the responsibility of planning and selecting Iranian short films.

A number of 18 short films have been selected with the aim of introducing filmmakers while Iranian short films have been chosen in various genres due to the salient specifications such as achieving success in the international arena.

The 11th International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala will be held on July 20-24, 2018 in India.

‘Lunch Time’ by Alireza Qasemi, ‘Lost Property’ by Hamed Nejabat, ‘Icky’ by Parastu Kardgar, ‘A Girl in the Room’ by Karim Lakzadeh, ‘Animal’ co-directed by Bahram and Bahman Ark, ‘Not Yet’ by Arian Vazirdaftari and ‘Maned & Macho’ by Shiva Sadeq-Asadi are among the movies.

Also included are ‘Pale Mirrors’ by Salem Salavati, ‘The Little Boy’ by Mona Shahi, ‘The Man Who Wasn’t Here’ by Ata Mojabi and ‘Whole to Part’ by Vahid Hosseininami. / Mehr news /

The 29th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) started today in Tehran. More than 260 students from 60 different countries have participated in the event which will end on July 22.

IBO 2018 is being organized by the Ministry of Education, Iran in partnership with The Universities of Tarbiat Modares.

Participants in this scientific event will take two theoretical and four practical exams which are going to be held in Shahid Beheshti University.

In the 28th edition of IBO held in England, Iranian students managed to won two gold and two silver medals.

The International Biology Olympiad (IBO) is a yearly Biology competition for secondary school students, who are winners of their respective National Biology Olympiad. Their skills in tackling biological problems, and dealing with biological experiments are tested. For a successful performance interest in biology, inventiveness, creativity and perseverance are necessary. IBO gathers young people from all over the world in an open, friendly and peaceful mind. IBO is hosted every year by a different IBO member and takes one week. / Mehr news /

Four Bangladeshi high school students have joined the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) in Iran. They are Auddithio Nag, Bayezid Mia, Tmzid Hossain Tanim and Prokriti Projukti.

The Olympiad began on July 15 and it will continue until July 22, said a press release.The IBO 2018 has been organised by the Ministry of Education, Iran in partnership with The University of Tarbiat Modares. More than 260 students from 60 different countries joined the event. / unb /