UAE-Israel agreed for peace agreement namely “Abraham Accord”

NATIONAL NEWS

Government launches Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge - Innovate Solutions for Aatmanirbhar Bharat

• Union Minister for Electronics and Information and Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad has launched Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge - Innovate Solutions for Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
• IIT Madras and the Center for Development of Advance Computing have developed two microprocessors named SHAKTI (32 bit) and VEGA (64 bit) using open source architecture.
• The Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge is to attract the start-ups and students to use these microprocessors in developing various technology products.

Manduadih Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh to be renamed as ‘Banaras’

• Ministry of Home Affairs has approved the renaming of Manduadih Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh as ‘Banaras’.
• The Former Union Minister Manoj Sinha has given the proposal of renaming to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in 2019.
• Manduadih Railway Station is situated in Varanasi, which is the Lok Sabha Constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Fact: Union Minister of Home Affairs – Amit Shah

         Capital of Uttar Pradesh – Lucknow

M/O MSME Nitin Gadkari Launched VedKrishi.com an Online Farm for Farmers

• Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari has launched VedKrishi.com, an Online Farm to infuse Service, over a virtual platform.
• This helps the farmers in selling toxic free farm produce.
• The VedKrishi Farmer Producer Company set up the platform, a Nagpur based farmer producer Company.
• The online portal enables the company to directly connect the farmers with the consumers.
• The company will offer advice on the day-to-day farming issues and paid visits to VedKrishi farms to provide more understanding about the VedKrishi.

Flipkart signs MoU with IIT Patna for Industry Focused Research

• Flipkart signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Patna to back up the industrial based research works in the fields like Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning.
• The main focus of the MoU is to bring industry exposure to the students and scholars of IIT patna and to provide opportunity to the faculties of IIT patna to work on research projects with Flipkart.
• Under this MoU, IIT Patna will undertake joint research activities, writing research papers, organising seminars, internships and mentorship opportunities.

Fact: CEO of Flipkart - Kalyan Krishnamurthy

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UAE-Israel agreed for peace agreement namely “Abraham Accord”

• Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates have signed the Israel–United Arab Emirates peace agreement with their Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel.
• This agreement is also called also Abraham Accord and it is signed to establish full diplomatic ties among the countries.
• President of US Donald John Trump has made the announcement as he acted as the mediator between the countries.
• With this, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) became the first Gulf Arab state and only the third Arab nation after Egypt and Jordan to have active diplomatic ties to Israel.
• Israel and the UAE will join with the United States to launch a Strategic Agenda for the Middle East to expand diplomatic, trade, and security cooperation.

Fact: Capital of Israel – Jerusalem

          Capital of UAE – Abu Dhabi

REPORTS & RANKINGS

Akshay Kumar Ranked 6^th in the Forbes’ list of ‘The Highest-Paid Actors 2020’

• Forbes’ has released the list of highest paid actors for the year 2020, in which Bollywood Actor Akshay Kumar ranked 6th with his estimated earnings of USD 48.5 million.
• In addition, he is only Indian Actor to come up in the top 10 positions.
• The list is topped by actor Dwayne Johnson for the consecutive second time, with an estimated net worth of USD 87.5 million followed by Ryan Reynolds(USD 71.5 million) and Mark Wahlberg(USD 58 million).
• Forbes is a global media company, focusing on business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and lifestyle.

Fact: Headquarters of Forbes - Jersey City, New Jersey.

IIT Madras retains number-one position in list of top innovative educational institutes in India

• Indian Institute of Technology, Madras has retained its number-one position in the list of top innovative educational institutes in India for the second consecutive year in the centrally funded institutions category.
• In the category of private institutions, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, or KIIT, Odisha has emerged as winners.
• 'Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements – ARIIA 2020' was released by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, in presence of Union Minister of Education, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.
• The objective or ARIIA 2020 is to rank higher education institutions and universities in India as per Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Start-up, and Development amongst faculty and students.
• ARIIA is an initiative by the Ministry of Education (MoE) which is implemented by AICTE and Ministry’s Innovation Cell, Government of India.

APPOINTMENTS

Ashok Lavasa resigns as Election Commissioner

• Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa has resigned from his post to join the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) as vice-president next month.
• Mr. Lavasa has submitted his resignation to President Ram Nath Kovind and has requested to be relieved by the end of this month.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Photography Day – August 19

• The World Photography day is being observed all over the world every year on August 19.
• World Photo Day originates from the invention of the Daguerreotype process developed by Louis Daguerre & Joseph Nicephore Niepce in 1837.
• The day is devoted to photography technology, design, research, and culture.
• World Photography Day aims to inspire photographers across the planet to share a single photo with a simple purpose of sharing their world with the world.
• The theme for this year is – Pandemic Lockdown through the Lens