1. Chandrayaan-2 orbiter completed one year in orbit around the moon on August 20, 2020. The orbiter was successfully inserted into the lunar orbit on August 20, 2019.
2. Madhya Pradesh is going to be the first state in India to offer government jobs based on score secured in the Common eligibility test (CET) which will be conducted by the proposed National Recruitment Agency.
3. Russia has expressed confidence in India’s ability to mass-produce `Sputnik V’ and is looking for collaboration. Russia has become the first country in the world to give regulatory approval to the COVID-19 vaccine.
4. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently published a study that revealed that gargle lavage as a feasible alternative to swabs for sample collection for COVID testing.
5. Short film ‘Am I?’ directed by Abhijit Paul won the first prize in an Online Short Film Contest organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting along with National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). The short film has won a cash award of Rs. 1 lakh. The second prize went to ‘Ab India Banega Bharat’ directed by Debojo Sanjiv and the third prize was won by a film titled ’10 Rupees’ directed by Yuvraj Gokul.
6. India’s first ‘air bubble’ agreement in South Asia will be established with the Maldives from next week. This was announced by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his virtual meeting with Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid on August 13.
7. The Maharashtra government has decided to extend Rs 50 lakh insurance cover to private doctors who die of coronavirus infection during the pandemic.
8. France has reopened select visa services for Indian students, researchers and teachers invited by an academic establishment or laboratory and holders of talent passport.