Launch:
- Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda inaugurated the e-portal on tribal health and nutrition named “Swasthya“. e-newsletter “Alekh” on health and nutrition also announced.
- “Swasthya”, a first of its kind e-portal, providing all health and nutrition related information of the tribal population of India in a single platform.
Prize:
- The Vice-President of India M Venkaiah Naidu will release results of Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) – 2020 on 18 Aug 2020.
- For the first time ARIIA 2020 will have special prize category for women only higher educational institutions.
- Five categories of ARIIA are:
- Centrally Funded Institutions
- State funded universities
- State funded autonomous institutions
- Private/Deemed Universities
- Private Institutions.
Technology:
- Google has introduced a new homework filter that will enable students to solve difficult math problems simply by clicking a picture using “Lens feature”.
To run the Lens feature, Google is using technology from a mobile learning app called “Socratic” which was the company acquired in 2019. - Google has released a new solution for real-time iris tracking and depth estimation on mobile devices using machine learning model “MediaPipe Iris“. It is designed for accurate iris estimation without the need for specialised hardware. It can track landmarks involving the iris, pupil and eye contours using a single RGB camera, in real-time.
Death:
- Filmmaker-actor & Drishyam movie director Nishikant Kamat died at Hyderabad on 17 Aug 2020. He was 50. He was suffering from liver cirrhosis for the last two years.
- Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj died due to cardiac arrest at his home in New Jersey, USA on 17 Aug 2020. He was 90.
- Former Cricketer And UP Minister Chetan Chauhan passed away at hospital in Gurugram due to COVID-19 on 16 Aug 2020. He was 73.
Others:
- The 1984 Batch IAS Officer Rakesh Asthana appointed as DG (Director General) of Border Security Force on 17 Aug 2020.
- The Hindu Education Plus will host a free webinar series will be on “Current and emerging career opportunities in nursing and paramedical sciences“, on 19 Aug 2020.
The webinar series will be presented by SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai. The webinar series will beneficiary for parents and students of Classes 9 to 12 to make informed decisions on higher education. - On 74th Independence Day celebrations, the Ministry of Tourism concluded Independence Day themed webinars conducted as part of “Dekho Apna Desh” Webinar Series. Webinar titled was “Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel -Architect of United India”.
- Hyderabad-based pharmaceuticals and biologics company Biological E (BE) has announced that it has acquired Akorn India, the Indian arm of US-based Akorn for $10 million (Rs 75 crore approx.), a producer of speciality generic injectable medicines and vaccines.