The Daily Brief – 18th August, 2016

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• The Minister for Human Resources and Development, Prakash Javadekar, has announced the the new education policy would focus on Sanskrit education. It would also boost the study of all Indian languages.
• The Indian Council of Historical Research has announced that it will document stories and legends relating to villages and towns across India into an encyclopedia, in a bid to keep oral and folk traditions alive.
• India and Bangladesh have agreed to jointly produce a documentary on the 1971 war which led to independence for Bangladesh.
• For the first time, the Juvenile Justice Board has directed a child offender (called a ‘Child in Conflict with the Law‘), to face trial at a sessions court in Delhi as an adult for allegedly kidnapping and raping a minor.
• Scientists at the Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) in Gujarat have devised a means to completely degrade three industrial dyes — methyl orange, methylene blue and reactive black-5 — in the presence of sunlight. They have created a photocatalyst that can safely and completely treat harmful dyes in an eco-friendly and cost-effective manner.
• Lupin has been named as the most reputed pharmaceutical brand in India followed by Sun Pharma, Cipla and Dr.Reddy’s in that order in ‘India’s Most Reputed Brands’ list.

• Wrestler Sakshi Malik has won India’s first bronze medal at the Rio Olympics this year. She has become the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal. The 23-year-old from Haryana was a silver medallist at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
• India’s Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal have moved into the final of the WSF World doubles squash championship.
• China and ten member countries of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to form a framework for a code of conduct to ease tension in the disputed South China Sea.
• The world’s largest and longest aircraft the Airlander 10 has embarked on its maiden flight at an airfield in Cardington in central England.

• The world’s longest and highest glass bridge (430 metres long, 300 metres high) will open soon in China’s Hunan province.

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