Reliance Jio has announced a long-term strategic partnership with Microsoft. Announced at the Reliance India Limited’s 42nd Annual General Meeting, the aim of the partnership is to accelerate the various aspects required for the digital transformation of the Indian economy and society.

The 10-year partnership will see the two companies working together on a number of solutions comprising connectivity, computing, storage solutions, and other technology services and applications essential for Indian businesses. Microsoft will be working with Jio to give a push to data analytics, AI (Artificial Intelligence), cognitive services, blockchain, Internet of Things, and edge computing among small and medium enterprises to make them ready to compete and grow, at the same time help in the GDP growth in India.

South Korea has decided to remove Japan from a list of nations receiving preferential treatment in trade in what was seen as a retaliatory move to Tokyo’s recent decision to downgrade Seoul’s trade status.

South Korean Trade Minister Sung Yun-mo said on August 12 that the government was removing Japan from the country’s 29-country “white list” because it has failed to uphold international principles while managing its export controls on sensitive materials.

South Korean officials did not specify what they saw as Japan’s problems in export controls. They said they would work to minimize negative impact on South Korean exporters and bilateral trade.

On Monday, Google celebrated the 100th birth anniversary of scientist and innovator Vikram Sarabhai, with a doodle. Dr. Sarabhai is considered as the father of India's space program, and his centenary comes just weeks after India's Chandrayaan-2 mission to the moon.

Born in Ahmedabad in 1919, Dr. Sarabhai earned his doctorate at Cambridge. He founded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad in November 1947. After Russia's Sputnik launch, he managed to convince the Indian government on the need for India, a developing country, to have its own space program.

Dr. Sarabhai established the Indian National Committee for Space Research in 1962, which was later renamed the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). He helped set up the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station in Thiruvananthapuram, with its inaugural flight in November 1963.

In Badminton, Indian junior shuttlers won six medals at the Bulgarian Junior International Championships which concluded in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria today. The medals comprised of three gold, a silver and two bronze.  The gold medals were won by Samiya Imad Faruqui in women's singles, the duo of Edvin Joy and Shruti Mishra in Mixed Doubles and pair of Tanisha Crasto and Aditi Bhatt in women's doubles. Men's doubles combination of Ishan Bhatnagar and Vishnuvardhan settled for the silver medal.

Malvika Bansod and  Meiraba Luwang won a bronze each in other singles events. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will feature in a special episode of the iconic survival television series 'Man Vs Wild' on Discovery channel tonight. It will be broadcast at 9 PM. The show will be hosted by renowned adventurer Bear Grylls. Shot in a Jim Corbett National Park, the show will create awareness about environmental changes and wildlife conservation. The episode will be showcased in over 180 countries across the world on Discovery network of channels. 

According to a statement issued by Discovery, Mr Modi had said that the show presents a great opportunity to showcase to the world, India's rich environmental heritage and stress on the importance of environment conservation and living in harmony with nature. 

In Badminton, reigning national champion, Sourabh Verma clinched the Men's Singles title in the Hyderabad Open today. He beat Singapore's Loh Kean Yew 21-13, 14-21, 21-16 in a 52-minute final clash. The 26-year-old  Sourabh from Madhya Pradesh had won the Slovenian International in May this year. He had also won two Super 100 titles at the Dutch Open and Russian Open last year. 

Top seeds Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, however, finished runners up in women's doubles. They lost 17-21,  17-21 to Korean combination of Baek Ha Na and Jung Kyung Eun in the summit clash.

President Ram Nath Kovind hosted At-Home reception in the honour of freedom fighters at Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening. The President also felicitated freedom fighters from across the country on the occasion

The event was held to mark the 77th anniversary of Quit India Movement. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were also present on the occasion. 

The event was also attended by Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and other dignitaries. 

The government on Friday launched inter-state portability of ration cards between Telangana-Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra-Gujarat as a pilot project to implement ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ across the country by June 1, 2020.

Beneficiaries in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh can now buy their quota of ration from Public Distribution System (PDS), or ration shops, in either state. Similar would be the case in Maharasthra and Gujarat.

“It is a historic day. We have started off inter-state portability of ration card pairing two states each,” Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said.

Public sector Indian Bank Friday signed a corporate agency agreement with Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company for distribution of its insurance products to bank customers.

According to the agreement, Cholamandalam MS, a Murugappa Group company, would sell its range of insurance policies to customers of Indian Bank.

On the signing of agreement, Indian Bank Managing Director and CEO, Padmaja Chunduru said, "The partnership will greatly benefit our customers and through this alliance, our customers will get a wide range of innovative products". Indian Bank has 2,872 branches, across the country.

President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the Motor Vehicles(Amendment), Act 2019. A Gazette Notification to this effect was issued by Ministry of Law and Justice yesterday. The Parliament had passed the bill in the recently concluded session. 

The bill amends the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 to provide road safety. Provisions related to increasing penalties on traffic violations, addressing issues on third-party insurance, regulation of cab aggregators and road safety are proposed in the amendment. 

The Bill proposes a scheme to allow cashless treatment of victims in a road accident during the golden hour. The golden hour is defined as the time period of up to one hour following a traumatic injury, during which the likelihood of preventing death through prompt medical care is the highest.