External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar is currently chairing the UN Security Council Open Debate on ‘Technology and Peacekeeping’ at UN headquarters in New York. He announced India’s support to the UN in roll out of UNITE AWARE – a technology platform for peacekeeping missions. UN peacekeeping missions continue to operate in challenging settings involving terrorists
The Union Cabinet has given approval to launch a new Mission on Oil palm to be known as the National Mission on Edible Oils - Oil Palm (NMEO-OP).
It will be a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a special focus on the North east region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Due to high dependence on imports for edible oils, it is important to increase the domestic production
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated the Centre for Research and Innovation in Artificial Intelligence set up at the IIT-Hyderabad.
He inaugurated the first Academic Building of the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgical Engineering, High-Performance Computing Centre and High-Resolution Electron Microscopy Facility
A consortium of doctors and researchers from India, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa have partnered to conduct a study on the epidemiological impact and intersection of the COVID-19 and Tuberculosis pandemics in these countries.
Under this joint research, the teams from these countries will explore the negative impact of the COVID-19 on the epidemiological character of TB.
Union Cabinet has approved the signing of a MoU between Permanent Mission of India to the WTO, Centre for Trade and Investment Law of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, and Centre for Trade and Economic Integration within The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.
This will provide valuable academic and research opportunities to employees.
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing the Memorandum of Understanding between Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the Florida International University (FIU), United States of America on cooperation in the field of Geology.
The MoU will provide an institutional mechanism between the GSI and the FIU on cooperation in the field of Geology.
For making available high quality and high speed internet access to the States of North Eastern Region of the country, Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) has signed an Agreement with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for hiring of 10 Gbps International Bandwidth for Internet Connectivity to Agartala from Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited, Bangladesh.
The Ministry of Tourism to strengthen the Hospitality & Tourism Industry, has signed the MoU with MakeMyTrip (India) and Ibibo Group.
The Ministry has already signed MoUs with Easemytrip, Clear trip and Yatra.com.
The primary objective of this MoU is to provide an extensive visibility to accommodation units, which have self-certified themselves on SAATHI on the OTA platform
A ‘Joint Guidance for the Australia – India Navy to Navy Relationship’ document was signed between the Indian Navy and Royal Australian Navy.
The signing ceremony was held between Adm Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy and Vice Admiral Michael J Noonan, Chief of Navy, Australian Navy.
The document is aligned to the 2020 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
This aims to ensure shared approaches to regional and global security challenges.
In continuation with ongoing deployment of Indian Navy ships in the South China Sea, INS Ranvijay and INS Kora undertook bilateral maritime exercise with Vietnam People’s Navy frigate VPNS Ly Thai To (HQ-012).
The bilateral interaction aims to consolidate the strong bond shared by the two navies and would be another step towards strengthening India-Vietnam defence relations
Maharashtra's Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray inaugurated the charging facility for electric vehicles at the parking lot of Mumbai’s Kohinoor building.
The State Government had announced its new Electric Vehicle Policy with an ambitious target of having 10% share of electric vehicles in the market by 2025. It aims to achieve 25% share in public transport.
The Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) – on behalf of the Bengaluru S&T (BeST) cluster entered into an MoU to foster collaboration and support the activities of BeST.
BeST is an initiative of the PM’s Science, Technology & Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) launched with support from the Office of the Adviser.
Faridabad Smart City Limited has roped in an unlikely collaborator to help promote its initiatives on social media – comic hero Chacha Chaudhary.
The social media campaign’s objective will be to promote the steps taken by the agency.
It will involve releasing “excerpts of ‘Talking Comics’, with each social media post depicting Chacha Chaudhary and his sidekick, Sabu.
Chhattisgarh became the first state to recognise Community Forest Resource Rights in an urban area, with the state government recognising rights of residents of Dhamtari district over 4,127 hectares of forests.
Community resource rights over 5,544 hectares of forest within the core area of the tiger reserve area were also recognised, under Forest Rights Act, 2006.
The Odisha Government has extended its sponsorship of Indian National hockey teams by another 10 years.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced this at a special function held to facilitate the Olympians of the national men's and women's hockey teams in capital Bhubaneswar.
CM Patnaik awarded 10 lakh rupees to each player and five lakh rupees to each support staff
The 2021 edition of the World Athletics U20 Championships scheduled to be held in Nairobi, Kenya.
The tournament will continue till 22 August at the Nyayo Sports Complex.
Javelin Thrower Kunwar Ajai Raj Singh Rana and Long Jumper Shaili Singh will lead the Indian challenge in the World Athletics U20 Championships as per the Athletics Federation of India.
The mixed relay team of India won a Bronze medal in 4*400 meters at the U20 World Championships being held in Nairobi with a time of 3:20.60, a season best.
The 2021 edition of the World Athletics U20 Championships will continue till 22 August at the Nyayo Sports Complex as per the Athletics Federation of India.
On the occasion of World Photography Day on 19 August, 2021, a biopic of acclaimed photographer-photo journalist, Raghu Rai will be streamed by Films Division on its website and YouTube channels.
The film titled “Raghu Rai : Hearing Through the Eyes” portrays a journey through the inner and outer world of the legendary photographer.
IIFL Home Finance(IIFL HFL), a leading housing finance company, has signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Technical Assistance to support & foster the green building ecosystem in the affordable housing sector in India.
This is ADBs first such private sector agreement in the country.
IIFL HFL will contribute up to $150,000, for supporting TA agreement
Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana has been appointed as UNICEF India's Celebrity Advocate for their global campaign EVAC (Ending Violence Against Children).
Through the initiative, he aims at building awareness on a national level about online safety for Indian children.
He will help in ending violence against children & help them participate actively in digital society.
Popular Malayalam actress Saranya Sasi died at a private hospital.
The 35-year-old actress was diagnosed with brain tumour years ago and underwent surgical procedure several times as part of the treatment.
She had acted in Malayalam movies like 'Chacko Randaman' and 'Chotta Mumbai' and was a popular TV actress in the state.
World Humanitarian Day, celebrated on August 19 every year, was designated by the United Nations to celebrate those people who have dedicated their lives to humanitarian causes.
It is also a day of remembrance for all those lives that have been sacrificed for the benefit of humanity.
This year theme is “The Human Race”.
