On August 24, the National Electoral Transformation (NETA) mobile application has been launched by former President Pranab Mukherjee wherein voters can review and rate their elected representatives (MPs& MLAs) as well as hold them accountable. Apart from this, the application is being seen as an instrument to track voter sentiment across various constituencies in India. The purpose of app is to foster political accountability by being an indicator of the ways in which a leader’s performance is being perceived. To ensure participation, the app requires a combination of mediums like the app itself, IVR calls, SMS and even offline activation leveraging ASHA and anganwadi workers to collate data on evolving political inclinations. The app is the brainchild of an entrepreneur Pratham Mittal and is inspired by the US approval system.

The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to organize a youths’ conclave “ATAL – Arunachal Transformation & Aspirational Leadership” in Itanagar on 22nd September 2018. The aim of the 3-day ATAL conclave is to engage youths in the age group of 18 to 30 years of the state pro-actively in the areas of public policy and governance. For this, they have to register themselves at www.atalconclave.in. Participants shall brainstorm and present their ideas, proposals and solutions for government policies and existing challenges faced by the state before expert panels. Further, interactive sessions with key policy makers, bureaucrats, sectoral experts, thought leaders, grass-root change-makers are also planned to be hosted in the Conclave. The conclave will see participation of 1000 youths of the state.

On 24th August 2018, Neta app that allows voters to rate and review their political representatives was launched by former President Pranab Mukherjee. The Neta App aims to build political accountability and transparency among leaders. It will enable users to rate their MLAs and MPs. It is billed as an instrument to measure voter sentiment in Indian constituencies. The Neta app has been developed by Pratham Mittal, a 27-year-old entrepreneur. It uses Artificial Intelligence, advanced algorithms, one time password and Aadhaar numbers to make sure that the users are genuine.

On August 23, the annual festival at Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil has started in Jaffna, Sri Lanka with the sacred flag hoisting ceremony and is attracting thousands of Hindu pilgrims from within the country and abroad. During the 25-day festival, thousands of Tamil Hindu devotees will attend the rituals in worship of Lord Murugan, Valli and Devanai Amman. The colourful festival includes vibrant chariot processions, rhythmic drumming, dancing and acts of self-mortification. The Ther Thiruvila (chariot festival) is the most popular of all events is very colourful.

The United States has imposed preliminary anti-dumping duty of 50.55 % on India-made metal pipes. This move has been made to protect the American industry and reduce the trade deficit. In January 2018, 6 US pipe manufacturers had filed antidumping complaint with the US Department of Commerce. On 21st August 2018, after preliminary analysis, the US Department of Commerce stated that, China, Greece, Canada, South Korea, Turkey and India were selling the large diameter-welded pipe used to transport oil, gas and other fluids very much below the fair price. This dumping is harmful to the US industry.

According to Forbes magazine, Akshay Kumar has emerged as the seventh highest-paid actor in the world by earning USD 40.5 million in 2018. Salman Khan ranked ninth place with USD 38.5 million.

Kabir Mathur is appointed as head of India investments by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).

On August 24, 2018, he Punjab cabinet approved a bill for creation of a price stabilization fund. This decision was taken by the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. This would ensure that state farmers get minimum support price (MSP). It would protect the interests of farmers in the event of a sudden fall in prices of certain agricultural commodities. Amendments will be made to sections 25 (A), 26 and 28 of the Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1961.

The Central government has released a list of regulations for the commercial use of drones. The regulations are intended to enable visual line-of-sight, daytime-only operations to a maximum altitude of 400 feet.

The Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) has launched an exclusive incubator “Fabless Chip Design Incubator (FabCI)” to boost chip design. It is a first of its kind in India that will focus on creating an ecosystem for start-ups in chip design. The purpose of FabCI is to incubate at least 50 ‘Make-in-India’ chip design companies that can compete globally and generate Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). It will provide a bouquet of offerings including free software tools with leading technology partners in Electronic Design Automation (EDA), a characterization facility for testing chips, and equipment for performing DC and RF characterization. FabCI is funded by MeitY, with technology partners Cadence Design Systems and Mentor Graphics both are leading providers of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software, hardware and IP. The Incubator also offers virtual support to non-Hyderabad start-ups which can join FabCI and leverage the offerings and participate remotely.

Hollywood star George Clooney tops the list of ‘World’s Highest-Paid Actors 2018’ with $239 Million.

On 21st August 2018, Anil Kumar Pathak took charge as Member (Planning) at the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Earlier, Anil Kumar Pathak was Executive Director of Planning and Engineering at the headquarters. He had also worked in Corporate Planning, Traffic Forecasting, and Airport Infrastructure Planning. AAI manages over 120 airports in various parts of India.

Nepal country is the current chairperson of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

On August 23, 2018, Europe launched a rocket named “Aeolus” from French Guyana. This satellite will be put into orbit at an altitude of 320 kilometers (200 miles) above the Earth which will track global winds, allowing for improved weather forecasting. It is part of the Copernicus project, a joint initiative of the European Union and the European Space Agency (ESA) to track environmental damage and aid disaster relief operations. The new mission is also Arianespace’s 50th launch for the European Space Agency.

The 9-member Steering Committee, headed by Stanford University Prof. AJ Paulraj, has recently submitted its 5G high-level forum report titled ‘Making India 5G Ready’ to Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan. The report suggested the Central government should announce its 5G policy by 31st December 2018, besides setting up a standing committee to advise on building the infrastructure for spectrum technology. The key recommendations and action plan for the report include spectrum policy; regulatory policy; education and awareness promotion; application and use case labs; participation in international standards; development of application layer standards; and major 5G trials. The committee expected the 5G commercial roll out in India by 2020.

The 65-year-old BJP leader, Arun Jaitley has resumed charge as the Finance Minister and Minister of Corporate Affairs after taking a break for three months to undergo a kidney transplant. In Jaitley’s absence, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal held additional charges of his ministry.